Markelle Fultz out at least 3 weeks with shoulder injury, 76ers announce

Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz is “out indefinitely with soreness and scapular muscle imbalance in his right shoulder,” the 76ers announced on Sunday. The first overall selection will be reevaluated in three weeks.

There’s no structural damage for Fultz, who played the first four games of the season, which is good news for Philadelphia. The bad news is that Fultz will still miss time, and his injury is the latest to hobble a top draft pick for the 76ers, who dealt with the same problems with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

This was the right thing to do, however. In fact, it’s miraculous that Fultz played at all to start the year, given that he wasn’t able to even shoot long jump shots. Fultz has had much-publicized struggles from the free throw line to start this season, and he’s yet to attempt a three-pointer. Fultz’s pull-up shooting game was an enormous part of his success at Washington and why he was so highly rated as a prospect.

The team originally announced that Fultz would miss three games. This is an extension of that timeline, giving Fultz plenty of time to heal outside of the public spotlight.

Originally, the 76ers said nothing was wrong with Fultz, and then questioned whether Fultz tweaked his shoulder while messing with his jump shot release. Fultz’s longtime trainer Keith Williams quickly came out to say that was not true at all. There was also confusion when Fultz’s agent mixed up whether Fultz had fluid drained or added to his shoulder, and when exactly that happened. (The answer: Fultz received a cortisone shot in early October.)

This is supposed to be a celebratory season for the 76ers, who are aiming to win and have all of their key prospects healthy at once, finally. The bizarre Fultz shoulder saga has dampened that slightly, but the 76ers (finally) settled things the right way. This injury will eventually heal for Fultz, and they can have their birthday cake celebration all the same.