The Philadelphia 76ers are too pragmatic to believe in perfection. But despite all that, Markelle Fultz is as close to a perfect fit as we dare project. What if we are wrong?
The fans of Philadelphia sports are quite familiar with the phrase “waiting for the other shoe to drop”. It’s how events seem to transpire in Philadelphia. A player on a great surprising run falls to injury and never comes back. A sure-fire talent never delivers. A player who shows tremendous potential never puts it all together. It happens to every team in every sport. The Philadelphia 76ers are just one more professional sports team.
But in recent years, the Philadelphia 76ers received more than a fair share of misfortune. Injury, personnel changes, draft picks beating the odds NOT to convey. You name it, it’s happened to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jinx
And then there is the jinx. Name a player on a positive streak, and the very utterance jinxes the player. You know the superstition. Nobody discusses the no-hitter while pitches continue to be thrown. Nobody cites the quarterback completions without interceptions without fear of the next pass resulting in an interception.
And so, it works both ways, I presume. So the theory is, if I can name all the things that COULD go wrong for Markelle Fultz this year, I jinx it from happening. Think of this as “reverse prognostication”. Okay, here goes nothing.
Ten ways Markelle Fultz fails to fit Philadelphia 76ers
There are any number of ways Markelle Fultz fails as a Philadelphia 76ers. Let’s name the ways:
I. Injury
II. Can’t earn playing time
III. Poor Shooting percentage
IV. Too many ball handlers
V. Can’t defend
VI. Bothered by vocal Philadelphia Fans
VII. Too young
VIII. No team chemistry
IX. Uncoachable
X. Too impatient
Okay. That should do it. Now lets examine each. Then we’ll give suppport why this could happen, followed by why it won’t happen.