The Sixers haven’t exactly been a model organization as far as players rehabbing from injuries go, especially in recent years.
Look no further than the Joel Embiid situation, in how the team continued to play him coming back from a foot injury, only to have him suffer more setbacks. Now, in the fourth season since being drafted, Embiid is finally getting close to being fully healthy.
Markelle Fultz’s shoulder injury has been no different, as the team played him in exhibition games when he could barely hold his shoulder above his head. Furthermore, they even revamped his free-throw shooting form so he could play in those games, and tinkering with a player’s shooting motion is a big no-no.
Fultz was seen shooting jumpers with his left hand during practice on Monday, which was something we hadn’t yet seen.
This is from legit three-point range with Fultz’s left hand pic.twitter.com/lhCXTKqd7I
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 6, 2017
Head coach Brett Brown said we shouldn’t read too much into it, and the reason for the switch is because he hasn’t been cleared to shoot right-handed.
Some clarity on today: at this stage of his PT program, Fultz is not yet shooting right handed jumpers, per team source.
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 6, 2017
Fultz is cleared for other work (which we saw) like layups with his dominant hand, but there are no plans to switch his shooting hand
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 6, 2017
If his shoulder is still bothering him and he hasn’t been cleared to shoot right-handed yet, then he shouldn’t be shooting at all. It makes zero sense to rush your franchise point guard back by having him do unnatural motions on the court.
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