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Hard-luck Ex-Husky Fultz Tears up Knee, NBA Season Over

The former No. 1 overall draft pick has been injured most of his past five basketball seasons, including in Seattle.
Dan Raley|
Hard-luck Ex-Husky Fultz Tears up Knee, NBA Season Over
Hard-luck Ex-Husky Fultz Tears up Knee, NBA Season Over

Markelle Fultz, the highest-drafted University of Washington basketball player ever, remains one of the most hard-luck and injury-prone players, as well. 

On Wednesday night, the point guard, now a member of the Orlando Magic, tore up a knee and had his fourth pro basketball season abruptly curtailed. In obvious pain, he left the floor in a wheelchair.

Fultz was taken No. 1 overall in the 2017 NBA draft. Yet he's been able to play just 14, 19, 72 and 8 games in his career. 

He collapsed without contact and suffered a torn left ACL in a 105-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at home. 

"God has a plan for me and I know that this adversity will only make me stronger in the end," Fultz wrote on social media.

Previously, he missed most of two seasons with a shoulder injury that at times left him without feeling in his arm and hand.

Fultz, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, played just one season for the Huskies in 2016-17 that ended early because of a knee injury and was disastrous in so many ways. The UW finished 9-22 and coach Lorenzo Romar was fired after 15 seasons. Fultz missed the final six games of the season after averaging a team-high 23.2 points per game over 25 outings.

Finally coming into his own as an NBA player and averaging 14.3 points and 6.1 assists per game this season, Fultz recently signed a three-year, $50 million extension last month.

"If anybody can handle it, it's Kelle," said fellow Magic guard Terrence Ross, another former Husky player who didn't team with Fultz in Seattle. "He's got the heart of a lion. He's super talented. He's always positive. I know he will be able to handle this."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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