Fultz says he fine, despite tweet
His shooting coach and others have publicly doubted his health.
CAMDEN, N.J. – Markelle Fultz is healthy and capable of playing quality basketball.
That’s what Fultz said Tuesday, which is different than what his shooting coach, Drew Hanlen, tweeted out Monday morning.
“Everything feels good,” Fultz said following practice at the team’s training facility. “I’m out here playing. You see me competing every day.”
When another shooting coach chided Hanlen for Fultz badly missing a long jump shot during the 76ers’ 122-97 road drubbing by the Nets on Sunday night, part of Hanlen’s reply was that Fultz is “still not healthy.”
Hanlen, who said Fultz took 160,000 jumpers with him in the offseason and has been around the team a fair amount early in the season, has since deleted the tweet. Hanlen didn’t attend Tuesday’s workout.
Perhaps it was a case of Hanlen simply trying to defend his client from criticism, but Brett Brown said he and Sixers management “wished he didn’t” go there. General manager Elton Brand has spoken to Hanlen about the matter and will continue to address Hanlen if necessary, according to Brown.
Fultz declined to talk about his discussions with Hanlen since the tweet surfaced and claimed he hasn’t seen it since he stays away from social media during the season.
While pointing out nobody is 100 percent healthy three weeks into an NBA season in which the Sixers just completed a stretch of five games in seven days, Brown’s assessment is Fultz has “been playing basketball and doing well. He’s fine.”
That wasn’t the case during Fultz’s rookie campaign.
After the Sixers traded up to land Fultz with the No. 1 overall pick, he sat out five months due to a scapular muscle imbalance and what Hanlen called “the yips,” which Fultz later denied.
This season, Fultz has started all 11 games for the 6-5 Sixers, averaging 9.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He is shooting 39.3 percent from the field, including 30.3 percent on 3-pointers.
While it’s encouraging he is converting 66.7 percent of his foul shots this year after managing 47.6 percent in 14 regularseason games last season, Fultz is shooting just 28 percent (21 of 75) from 3 feet and beyond in 2018-19. He’s actually shooting better from 3-point range than from 3-to-10 feet out (28.6 percent).
“My shot can get better,” Fultz said. “It’s all about putting in work to get better, like I did this summer.”
Brown claims he’s constantly evaluating the lineup with Fultz starting games alongside Ben Simmons (28.3 percent from 3plus feet) and understands shooting and spacing are the two most important factors in the equation. JJ Redick starts second halves in place of Fultz.
“To date, you’d say that [pairing] has struggled,” Brown said.
Fultz has a slightly more optimistic viewpoint.
“I think it’s only getting better,” Fultz said. “We’re two great basketball players that know how to play basketball [and compete]. We find a way to make it work.”
Brown admitted he could end up choosing to make Fultz strictly a 12-to-14-minute-a-game backup point guard if he thinks that’s the best thing for Joel Embiid, Simmons and the organization.
“I’m going to have a judgment, a gut feel on where this goes [and] how long it goes,” Brown said. “The only thing I can confidently say is it will come with a tremendous amount of thought and it will not be reactional.
“I’m not a prisoner to anything right now. This is my call. I’m not getting directed by Elton or the owners.”
Fultz, Simmons and the Sixers are shooting for their first road win of the season Wednesday evening against the 7-4 Pacers. They are 0-5 away from Wells Fargo Center.
It would behoove the Sixers to get Embiid, who is second in the league in scoring at 28.4 points, more than the eight shots he had vs. Brooklyn, though Brown noted the numerous turnovers trying to feed Embiid down low and Embiid’s own turnovers in the post make that number somewhat misleading.
As for Fultz, regardless if he starts or comes off the bench, his goal remains the same — do whatever he can to help the Sixers win.
There’s no need for Hanlen to tweet about that.
tmoore@couriertimes.com @TomMoorePhilly