Sixers Rookie Markelle Fultz Will Begin Practicing But Still No Timetable for Return
Sixers rookie Markelle Fultz is getting closer to playing in games again, but it’s unclear just how much closer.
A shoulder injury has kept Fultz out for the last 31 games but he “has been cleared to begin the final stage of his return-to-play program,” the team announced Tuesday. “The program consists of gradual re-integration into team practices and training, complemented with additional conditioning work to support fitness readiness for gameplay.”
The update is heavy on jargon but completely devoid of even a rough timeline of when we might be able to expect to see the No. 1 pick back on the court.
Fultz hasn’t played since Oct. 23 and the team announced later that he was being shut down due to a “scapular muscle imbalance.” The issue was to blame for Fultz’s hideous shooting form this season and his agent explained that discomfort resulting from a cortisone shot made it so that he “literally cannot raise up his arms to shoot the basketball.”
The injury also forced Fultz to drastically adjust his approach on the offensive end. After lighting it up from three-point range in college, Fultz didn’t even attempt a shot from beyond 13 feet in his brief NBA debut.
