The Orlando Magic have played the entirety of the 2021-22 NBA season without having Markelle Fultz in the lineup after suffering a torn ACL. That is going to be changing in the near future as he is approaching a return to the lineup.
The team announced Fultz will make his season debut on Monday when the Magic take on the Indiana Pacers. Before going down with his season-ending injury, Fultz was averaging an impressive 14.3 points and 6.1 assists in seven appearances.
“I’m just blessed just to be able to, one, be where I am today after going through an injury like this and being able to fight and just be back on the court with my brothers and friends,” Fultz said on the Orlando Magic Pod Squad. “So, one, I’m just blessed and I’m thankful for the process and the journey that I’ve been through. I’m very excited just to get out there with my teammates and go out there and compete.”
Fultz holds a lot of optimism in where he’s at physically since beginning the recovery process from his season-ending injury. He even mentioned that his body is feeling better now than it’s felt in a long time.
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“I feel a lot stronger this time around,” he explained. “This injury has helped me work on a lot of things. This is probably the best my body has felt in a long time. I’m talking about full body. I can feel my muscles. I can identify certain things in my body. Just all around, core, conditioning, I think this is probably the best I’ve felt coming back and being able to play basketball.”
A lot of focus has been placed on Fultz’s jump-shooting since he came out of Washington. He went from having smooth shooting mechanics and an ability to make the defense pay in just about any way. He began suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) in his shoulder, which caused the drastic change in his shooting.
While Fultz has been sidelined, he’s been working on “a little bit of everything” but highlighting his focus on his midrange game, using his size in the post, playing through contact, and off the dribble three-point shooting.
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“I’ve just been working on everything,” Fultz said. “Being able to be able to use my size as an advantage in the post. Being able to get to my spots where I love to kill, the midrange. Working on going through contact, getting to the rim, trying to get free throws. Stuff like that. Playing the same game. Shooting my threes off the dribble. Just a little bit of everything.”
It will be fascinating to see how Markelle Fultz factors into the Orlando Magic’s guard rotation. The organization has added Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony in recent draft classes and still has Gary Harris in the fold as he plays out the final year of his current contract.
