Markelle Fultz
Markelle Fultz was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, United States on May 29th, 1998 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 25, Markelle Fultz biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 25 years old, Markelle Fultz has this physical status:
Markelle N'Gai Fultz (born May 29, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Before joining the NBA, he played college basketball for the Washington Huskies.
Fultz played point guard and shooting guard for the Huskies during his single season (2016-2017).
Despite Washington's poor year, he was named to the third team All-American and the first-team All-Pac-12.
He was then chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers as the consensus first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.
Early life
Fultz was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on May 29, 1998, the younger of two children. His father abandoned the family and relied heavily on his mother, Ebony. Fultz was coached in his early years by a local instructor named Keith Williams, who was captivated by basketball. He began attending DeMatha Catholic High School, an all-boys prep school as well as the basketball powerhouse in 2012. He had shown promise on the DeMatha Stags' freshman team, but the 5-foot-9-inch (1.75 m) guard was dropped from the varsity roster as a sophomore. He was overlooked due to his obnoxious gait, having the appearance of "Bambi"; as assistant coach Cory McCrae, "he was long and lanky, and his knees would be hurting." Fultz, on the other hand, debating the sport at the junior varsity level, making it clear that he did not participate there.
Fultz's potential was the first to notice his development, with assistant coach Raphael Chillious describing him as a player with the characteristics of an NBA All-Star caliber player if he continued to develop. Fultz stood 6 foot 3 inches (1.91 m) at the start of his junior season. He averaged 16.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game as a starter for DeMatha's Varty in the highly crowded Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, winning the Player of the Year award. Among his junior campaign's highlights were his game-winning foul shots he made in a 16-point appearance while being covered by Jayson Tatum of Chaminade and the triple-double double he posted in a matchup against Roselle Catholic at the Hoophall Classic. His recruiting profile soared during this season, with Rivals.com naming him number 24 in the Class of 2016 and more than 20 college programs offering scholarships to him.
Fultz pledged to the University of Washington on August 21, 2015. He ended his high school career with a record for assists with 278 and led the team to their second straight conference championship appearance. Fultz scored ten points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the McDonald's All-American Game on March 31, 2016. Fultz scored 19 points in a 131–117 East team victory in April. He was selected to Team USA's FIBA Americas Under-18 roster during the summer. Fultz as the team's top scorer, the team advanced to the gold medal championship game, and Fultz led the tournament's MVP award for his effort.
Fultz had been ranked as the top point guard in the 2016 class and number three overall by Rivals.com, and number seven by ESPN.com. Fultz, a basketball teammate and acquaintance of Chase Young, who was later named the 2020 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Washington Football Team second overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.
College career
The Washington Huskies were fully expecting to open the 2016–17 season with Dejounte Murray and Marquese Chriss; instead, however, both freshmen were selected in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft. Fultz said of the anticipated scenario if they had stayed: "I think we would be No. 1 in the country. We would have gone to the (NCAA) tournament and won". Without any proven talent and only one returning starter, Fultz took charge as a team leader and primary scorer. As the starting point guard, he debuted in a 98–90 home game loss to the Yale Bulldogs in which he posted 30 points.
Although the Huskies finished with a disappointing 9–22 record, Fultz enjoyed one of the best freshman seasons in all Pac-12 Conference history. In 25 games that season, his 23.2 point average was the highest mark in the Pac-12 in 20 years and second in Huskies history behind Bob Houbregs' 25.6 points per game in 1952–1953. Fultz also led the team in minutes played with 35.7 per game as well as assists with 5.7 per game and was second in rebounds with 5.9 per game. By the time Pac-12 honors were awarded, Fultz—the lone Husky selected—was named to the First-team All-Pac-12 and Third-team All-American. A player who "jumps off the page athletically and possesses creative scoring instincts and playmaking skills", the consensus among sports analysts was that Fultz would be the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.
Professional career
Fultz was selected as the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, who then finalized his four-year rookie contract on July 8. The 76ers, after years of mediocrity, had lofty expectations of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2012; such were the high hopes that rested on their new core consisting of Fultz, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons. In his first regular season game, on October 18, the rookie posted 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 18 minutes of play coming off the bench. It was not long, however, before a shoulder injury—termed a "scapular muscle imbalance"—so ravaged his shooting that he shot only 33 percent from the field and attempted zero three-pointers in four games. In response, the 76ers decided to sit Fultz indefinitely until he recovered. Debate ensued between sports analysts and the organization over how much his shooting woes were of physical versus psychological origin. Fultz himself later clarified: "What happened [...] was an injury. Let me get that straight. It was an injury that happened that didn’t allow me to go through the certain paths that I needed to, to shoot the ball."
During his hiatus, Fultz's basic shooting mechanics appeared to change under a trainer from outside the 76ers organization; this and his lengthy recovery period taken were heavily scrutinized. The team's president of basketball operations, Bryan Colangelo, suggested that the rookie might very well sit for the remainder of the season; but on March 26, 2018, it was announced that Fultz would return to the hardwood for an upcoming game against the Denver Nuggets. Despite some missteps, such as one air ball shot and some shots blocked, Fultz put up 10 points and 8 assists in 14 minutes of playing time. On April 11, at the age of 19 years old and 317 days, Fultz became the youngest player in NBA history at the time to record a triple-double, putting up 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 130–95 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, a record that was later broken by LaMelo Ball.
For the 2018–19 season, head coach Brett Brown named Fultz the starting shooting guard over veteran JJ Redick. Fifteen games into the season, however, Fultz lost the position to Jimmy Butler, whom the 76ers acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Conflicting statements regarding Fultz's health and poor production continued to be sources of conflict and drama for the team. On November 20, 2018, his agent Raymond Brothers announced Fultz would not participate in practice or games until a shoulder injury was evaluated; his ailment was later described as thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), the neurogenic type of the disorder which “affects nerves between the neck and shoulder resulting in abnormal functional movement and range of motion, thus severely limiting Markelle’s ability to shoot a basketball”.
On February 7, 2019, Fultz was traded to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Jonathon Simmons, an Oklahoma City Thunder first round pick, and a Cleveland Cavaliers 2nd round pick. Magic coach Steve Clifford later stated in March that he did not anticipate Fultz returning to play during the season, stressing that his shoulder injury was indeed "very serious." Fultz made his Magic debut on October 23, 2019, putting up 12 points, six assists, and two steals in a 94–85 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On December 27, 2020, Fultz put up 26 points in a 120–113 win over the Washington Wizards. On January 6, 2021, Fultz suffered a torn ACL against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first quarter and missed the remainder of the 2020–21 season.
Fultz resumed playing on February 28, 2022 against the Indiana Pacers. On April 10, Fultz put up a career-high 15 assists in a 125–111 win over the Miami Heat.