Markelle Fultz’s rise against media pressure

The Philadelphia 76ers have become one of most exciting and fascinating stories in all of professional sports. They have received both criticism and praise for their notorious “tanking” strategy ,intentionally losing games in order to receive high draft picks and ultimately top talents,  which led to their departure from mid-level mediocrity to having possibly the most potential in the league.

This process has landed us our dominant center Joel Embiid in 2014, our generational seven-foot point guard Ben Simmons in 2016, and our most recent star; the unanimous number one pick of last year’s draft, Markelle Fultz from the University of Washington.

Though these players have undeniable talent, there have been some issues in their development. Embiid struggles to stay healthy and hardly plays in back to back games. Simmons sat his first year of NBA play to due injury, and many criticize his inability to shoot from outside the paint.

Fultz has what we refer to in sports as the “yips,” which basically means he forgot how to play basketball, and he can’t find his shot that lead him to being the obvious choice for first pick in the draft.

This might sound insane. This might be ridiculous to you. How could the best player in college basketball freeze under the spotlight? How could he not be productive in what he has shined in his entire life? You may have to put yourself in his shoes to know that answer.

Fultz is 19 years old. That is a whole year younger than I am. He’s a kid. He’s subject to all of the pressures and unfavorable mental and physical transitions we face as young adults, he just happens to be expected to be a face of an entire professional sports franchise. Sounds a little more terrifying than being expected to turn in an assignment on time, right?

When the Sixers decided to keep Fultz on the bench, despite having no serious injuries or health concerns, the media wanted answers. What’s going on in Philadelphia with Markelle Fultz? Why is he not expected to play in tonight’s game?

Now imagine an entire new level of pressure. Cameras at every practice, national television criticising a kid, calling him a bust before he even stepped on the court. The franchise even hired a doctor of sorts to help him overcome the mental aspects- and to completely change his shot. He had a shot that got him to the absolute highest level of basketball, and  then was expected to just completely change it. Imagine not even being able to go the gym to get some shots up without someone taking a video that would leak to ESPN.

I think sometimes, as journalist or media people whose jobs require creating stories and drama, sports writers can get carried away with how they treat athletes. Fultz was exposed and terrorized by a multitude of beat writers,national journalists and broadcasters. The constant pressure had made his on-court issues even worse.

Despite all this, Markelle Fultz has found his role on this electric young Sixers team. He’s recently found his rhythm and has been a productive member to this late season push which resulted in sixteen straight wins to finish out the regular season.

Last week, in the last game of the season against the Milwaukee Bucks, Fultz became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. Not only was this an historic moment for him and for the franchise, but served as an ultimate boost of confidence for the young man struggling to prove his worth to both the league and himself.