It looks like Markelle Fultz’s shoulder is messing with his shot
Apparently, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Markelle Fultz changed his free throw form for a reason other than poor percentages.
The Philadelphia 76ers‘ preseason has gotten off to an interesting start. Ben Simmons is showing out, Joel Embiid finally signed his extension, and Markelle Fultz has drastically altered his shooting form — the same form that yielded a 41.3 percent success rate from deep during his lone season at Washington.
While Fultz’s shot isn’t a massive concern, it’s something that could impede his success early on. Breaking habits is difficult, and any new quirks he added into his form will take some time to filter back out. He took it upon himself to tinker with his form as well, foregoing assistance from the coaching staff in favor of single-handedly changing his shot.
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The consensus for most of the offseason has been that Fultz looked to change his shot because his free throw shooting was bad. He only shot 64.9 percent from the line last year, and concerns over how well his shot could translate — despite his success elsewhere on the floor — led some pundits to point that out rather consistently.
It seems, however, that speculation was off base. According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, Fultz has been messing with his jumper to help stave off shoulder pain that has been bothering him since his college campaign.
When asked if his shooting changes were to minimize pain on the release, Fultz said this:
"“Yeah, for the most part. I’m just trying other things to make free throws. At the end of the day, that’s not an excuse for me. I’m just out there hooping.” — The Ringer"
That explains the wrist-heavy motion in the free throw form he showed off in Monday night’s loss to Boston, as he essentially avoided any significant motion through his shoulders. Fultz also said that he “can’t recall” when the pain started, and Brett Brown added on that he thinks Fultz’s shoulder ” is affecting him more than he lets on.”
There is some relief in that Fultz isn’t arbitrarily goofing around with his form, but the injury problem provides a much more serious concern. If Fultz’s shoulder is consistently in flux and there isn’t a diagnosed issue, there’s a very real chance that it could evolve into a prolonged hindrance that requires more drastic measures down the line.
With this Sixers fan base dealing so consistently with injuries over the past few seasons, Fultz being forced out of whack by nagging shoulder concerns isn’t the greatest feeling. It’s something that could limit the production of yet another top tier talent, and could eventually stretch out the Sixers’ competitive timeline more than some had hoped.
With that said, there’s no reason — at this point — the believe that Fultz’s shoulder is a career-affecting injury. Soreness is something today’s medical advancements can work to diagnose and fix, and this could mean Fultz’s shot gets back to normal once the training staff is able to work through the pain.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons should make the Sixers plenty competitve in the meantime, giving them a budding playmaker and one of the league’s more gifted interior talents to work around. Fultz has produced in almost every other facet as well, making gorgeous moves to the rim while showing off nice vision as a passer and improved effort on the defensive end.
In general, Fultz should remain productive while his shot works itself out. This isn’t something that drops his status as the No. 1 prospect from this year’s class, and we should still have some considerable optimism moving forward.
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Just note that this is a real concern, and there’s a chance — however slight it may be — that his shoulder needs some work beyond the regular confines of an in-house training staff.