Markelle Fultz VIII: The Aftermath

[Audi]

He was referring to him seeing a million doctors and not one of them finding anything wrong with him and he just kept seeing doctors until he got the TOS diagnosis, but no doctor put their name publicly behind that diagnosis, nor did the team(when they usually have in the past with the Sixers). So most people who cover the team feel that it was a made up diagnosis to allow Fultz to save face and continue to not admit publicly he has a mental block.

Obviously no one can prove that, but it’s the general consensus from people covering the team. That Fultz is trying to do everything he can to not admit he has a problem.

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

[Sixerscan]

He was referring to him seeing a million doctors and not one of them finding anything wrong with him and he just kept seeing doctors until he got the TOS diagnosis, but no doctor put their name publicly behind that diagnosis, nor did the team(when they usually have in the past with the Sixers). So most people who cover the team feel that it was a made up diagnosis to allow Fultz to save face and continue to not admit publicly he has a mental block.

Obviously no one can prove that, but it’s the general consensus from people covering the team. That Fultz is trying to do everything he can to not admit he has a problem.

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

He didn't confirm the diagnosis, I would read the press release carefully.

[FireMorey]

He was referring to him seeing a million doctors and not one of them finding anything wrong with him and he just kept seeing doctors until he got the TOS diagnosis, but no doctor put their name publicly behind that diagnosis, nor did the team(when they usually have in the past with the Sixers). So most people who cover the team feel that it was a made up diagnosis to allow Fultz to save face and continue to not admit publicly he has a mental block.

Obviously no one can prove that, but it’s the general consensus from people covering the team. That Fultz is trying to do everything he can to not admit he has a problem.

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

I wish Fultz well, and I have no issues with the Magic so I’m telling you this not to be negative, but because I don’t want you guys to go through what we did.

I highly highly doubt TOS is a real issue for him. If it is I’ll surely admit I was wrong. But it’s alwahs been something. The shoulder, there was a wrist thing that popped up too. Almost everyone who covers the team feels it’s a mental block and he just has performance anxiety and is afraid to shoot. It explains why any instance he has time to think about shooting, his shot looks awful, but when he shoots off the dribble,or something are the only times it has ever looked normal.

If you believe the injury stuff you’re just going to be disappointed and frustrated like we were. I think it’s better to assume it’s a mental block and be pleasantly surprised, because doing it the other way and your fans will start to resent him as every “injury” thing goes away and he still can’t shoot and then they’ll find some other mystery ailment to slap on him to explain it.

[Audi]

He was referring to him seeing a million doctors and not one of them finding anything wrong with him and he just kept seeing doctors until he got the TOS diagnosis, but no doctor put their name publicly behind that diagnosis, nor did the team(when they usually have in the past with the Sixers). So most people who cover the team feel that it was a made up diagnosis to allow Fultz to save face and continue to not admit publicly he has a mental block.

Obviously no one can prove that, but it’s the general consensus from people covering the team. That Fultz is trying to do everything he can to not admit he has a problem.

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

He didn't confirm the diagnosis, I would read the press release carefully.

Ok, so let’s say he read the findings of the specialists and disagreed with the diagnosis...it’s irrelevant. What the official release proves is that there was indeed a report from specialists who made a diagnosis that was reviewed by him. Or am I to believe there was no report and this doctor reviewed nothing, putting out an official release from his desk, under his professional name, based on the word of an agent?

[FireMorey]

The thing about TOS is it isn’t an exact science. It’s not like diagnosing cancer with a biopsy. It’s a matter of opinion, so eventually he could have found one doctor who said it might be TOS, go try this and see if it gets better, and boom, there you have your diagnosis and press release.

[Audi]

He was referring to him seeing a million doctors and not one of them finding anything wrong with him and he just kept seeing doctors until he got the TOS diagnosis, but no doctor put their name publicly behind that diagnosis, nor did the team(when they usually have in the past with the Sixers). So most people who cover the team feel that it was a made up diagnosis to allow Fultz to save face and continue to not admit publicly he has a mental block.

Obviously no one can prove that, but it’s the general consensus from people covering the team. That Fultz is trying to do everything he can to not admit he has a problem.

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

I wish Fultz well, and I have no issues with the Magic so I’m telling you this not to be negative, but because I don’t want you guys to go through what we did.

I highly highly doubt TOS is a real issue for him. If it is I’ll surely admit I was wrong. But it’s alwahs been something. The shoulder, there was a wrist thing that popped up too. Almost everyone who covers the team feels it’s a mental block and he just has performance anxiety and is afraid to shoot. It explains why any instance he has time to think about shooting, his shot looks awful, but when he shoots off the dribble,or something are the only times it has ever looked normal.

If you believe the injury stuff you’re just going to be disappointed and frustrated like we were. I think it’s better to assume it’s a mental block and be pleasantly surprised, because doing it the other way and your fans will start to resent him as every “injury” thing goes away and he still can’t shoot and then they’ll find some other mystery ailment to slap on him to explain it.

Well that’s why the diagnosis is significant to me and I’m trying to do some digging here - I will ere on the side of science and doctors over beat writers every time.

[FlyingArrow]

Not a fan of selling low like this, but I'm going to assume the team knew a lot more damning info that we don't.

I would expect ALL the dirt to be leaked out by the front office shortly. Both to justify the trade now, and also to bury the corpse of the former incompetent GM responsible for this mess.

Hopefully they either had additional info, or they have a really good plan for the extra cap space. From where I'm sitting, the cap space doesn't look like it will exist anyway. We sign Butler and Harris to massive deals and we're going over the cap regardless. If we hit the luxury tax (we will soon), not having Markelle will save the owners a bunch of money but as a fan I don't care about that. If Butler or Harris walks, it will be good to have cap space to chase someone else, but I would have much rather traded Fultz in the summer only if we needed the space to chase a big name.

It's a 2020 draft pick - it doesn't even fit our timeline any better than Fultz.

[sixerguy]

Reports are in Sixers gave up on the Mirotic for Fultz deal after warnings from Raymond Brothers of the absence of a Chick Fil A in the Big Easy

[FireMorey]

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

I wish Fultz well, and I have no issues with the Magic so I’m telling you this not to be negative, but because I don’t want you guys to go through what we did.

I highly highly doubt TOS is a real issue for him. If it is I’ll surely admit I was wrong. But it’s alwahs been something. The shoulder, there was a wrist thing that popped up too. Almost everyone who covers the team feels it’s a mental block and he just has performance anxiety and is afraid to shoot. It explains why any instance he has time to think about shooting, his shot looks awful, but when he shoots off the dribble,or something are the only times it has ever looked normal.

If you believe the injury stuff you’re just going to be disappointed and frustrated like we were. I think it’s better to assume it’s a mental block and be pleasantly surprised, because doing it the other way and your fans will start to resent him as every “injury” thing goes away and he still can’t shoot and then they’ll find some other mystery ailment to slap on him to explain it.

Well that’s why the diagnosis is significant to me and I’m trying to do some digging here - I will ere on the side of science and doctors over beat writers every time.

Well, that’s the thing. Only one doctor gave a TOS diagnosis, and as I said in my previous post, diagnosing it isn’t a science. It’s more the art of medicine as opposed to the science of medicine. All the other doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with him and he has seen several.

Many athletes,who have TOS eventually get surgery to remove a rib that is pinching on a nerve so if he eventually gets surgery you’ll know it’s legit, I don’t think rehabbing it would do anything if there actually is something physically bothering him that badly.

[Sixerscan]

From what I’ve read, TOS is diagnosed after a long process of elimination. The average person with TOS usually isn’t diagnosed until after seeing a minimum of 6 specialists without a diagnosis. Some even have unsuccessful surgeries (like rotator) on issues only to find the root cause was TOS all along. This would all seem to jive with Fultz seeing tons of specialists.

As to why no doctor publicly put his name on it, I don’t know. However, what we do know is Sixers VP of Athlete Care Dr. Daniel Medina, confirmed the diagnosis in an official release. One would assume he would have reviewed the findings of the specialists that led to the diagnosis and concurred in order for him to confirm it under his title.

He didn't confirm the diagnosis, I would read the press release carefully.

Ok, so he read the findings of the specialists and disagreed with the diagnosis...it’s irrelevant. What the official release proves is that there was indeed a report from specialists who made a diagnosis that was reviewed by him. Or am I to believe there was no report and this doctor reviewed nothing, putting out an official release from his desk, under his professional name, based on the word of an agent?

What release are you talking about? This is the one I'm talking about:

https://www.phillyvoice.com/markelle-fultzs-thoracic-outlet-syndrome-diagnosis-elton-brand-joel-embiid-brett-brown-sixers-medical-staff/

Markelle Fultz has recently completed a thorough series of consultations with specialists across several disciplines. Thoracic outlet syndrome, which involves compression or irritation in the thoracic outlet (area between lower neck and upper chest), was identified.

Physical therapy was recommended for Fultz before returning to play.

Fultz will begin this physical therapy immediately, is out indefinitely, and further updates will be provided as appropriate.

Notice the complete lack of agency in terms of diagnosis and rehab? It wasn't even "diagnosed", it was "identified." That's incredibly weird.

I am well past the point of speculating about what is really going on. I would just warn you that this is an incredibly bizarre situation that we have been living this for the past year and a half, and stuff that may seem ridiculous to you may seem less ridiculous had you been observing the situation as closely as we have.

[FlyingArrow]

Well that’s why the diagnosis is significant to me and I’m trying to do some digging here - I will ere on the side of science and doctors over beat writers every time.

It's all a risk at this point. How likely is it that Fultz returns to form? The payoff is pretty high. Consensus now is that he shouldn't have been #1 pick anyway, but that he's still a lottery pick talent if he can shoot again. So great payoff if he returns to form. So is it TOS? Totally consistent with everything we've seen. Is it just Fultz not admitting to a mental block because doing so would be too damaging to his career? Totally consistent with everything we've seen. There's literally no way to know. And even if it is TOS, can he recover? Not everyone recovers. Some of those that do require surgery. And after recovery there may then be a mental hurdle... "When I had TOS it used to always hurt when I did this movement... gotta unlearn the bad habits I used to compensate." It could be two years before Fultz is a useful contributor. Or maybe never. Or maybe 6 weeks.

Sixers are in win-now mode and don't need Fultz to be a star. Cashing in the chances of him becoming a star for non-lottery 1st round pick means trading a high-risk, high-reward Fultz for probably a 22-year old draft pick who steps right into a bench-contributor-but-never-a-star role. In that sense, it's a good move for the Sixers. But I do think they could have waited until the summer to at least see if the six-week scenario might play out.

[RoundMound]

So much is cloaked in mystery/secrecy. Do you think we will ever know what the truth is behind the Fultz "thing" ? When/how did he forget/lose his shot/get injured after the that first summer league where it seemed like it was going to work out? I know he's gone now and he's not our problem anymore, but I guess I would like some sort of closure as I feel that Fultz and the Sixers both contributed to a major cover up here, and we were taken on an unnecessary roller coaster ride. Do you think the full story will ever be revealed?

[Samson]

Let's see how long ORL fans put up with his cheddarjack shiznit.

[bball4life]

The thing I can't get over in regards to the diagnosis or whatever his problem was, is that he was suddenly unable to play and had his agent announce his suddenly show stopping issues immediately after Brett Brown chose to sit him in the 2nd half of a game after he had a sloppy, turnover filled stretch in the first half. Not because he double clutched shots or was unable to lift his arm, but just played badly. I think that tells you everything you need to know about the mental state / support team / physical issues / thin skin that is Markelle Fultz. Be happy he's no longer our concern.

[jbent87]

I hope he becomes the GOAT. Nothing but the best.

yeah, liar.

What a weird, blatantly false thing to say. You want a failed experiment here to go on and become the GOAT? For the Magic I'm assuming? Thus probably beating your own team along the way, at some point? Why exactly? Because he not only failed to live up to expectations here, but he also made our rival better in the trade to acquire him? So better get out the pom poms and cheer for him to be what he was supposed to be here, elsewhere?

I'm sorry, give me a warning, do whatever you have to do for this response, Mods. But this false, fabricated, completely over the top being positive attitude for a player who has only hurt our own team during his time here is so bizarre, and fake. Just don't understand this mindset, and why my retort will be looked at as irrational, compared to what I'm responding to.

If it isn't obvious this is also a response to not just this poster but the general response from a decent amount of Sixers fans who are declaring their undying support for this kid going forward. I am not cheering for this kids at all. That doesn't make me a bad fan. It doesn't make the aforementioned fans good fans, either. It just makes you soft.

[FlyingArrow]

I don't want him to be the GOAT. I'd like him to have a nice long career as a backup, ultimately performing far worse than whoever we get from the draft picks.

[eagereyez]

Disappointed in the trade. I think the Sixers could have received more if they waited until he was an expiring - even if he never improved. But in the long run it probably doesn't matter. The championship core is set and a backup PG won't make a difference. Hope they can find a Josh Hart in the late 1st.

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[Arsenal]

Chauncey Billups is on NBA radio now saying that Markelle Fultz was BC's guy, but was never Brett Brown's guy. His agent is also Raymond Brothers so I'm going to assume he's correct on this. He's also saying Fultz needed a change of scenery and for a team/coach to believe in him and give him rope to play through mistakes, similar to himself at one point early in his career.

I assume all of this is what Brothers told him, so it's likely they wanted a trade to a better situation for him.

[FlyingArrow]

The championship core is set and a backup PG won't make a difference. Hope they can find a Josh Hart in the late 1st.

Of course the backup PG can make a difference. 10-15 minutes per game... 2 or 3 extra shots by the opponent because our guy can't stop their PG? 1 extra turnover and missed shot? Very easy for the backup PG to mean a 5-8 point difference in a game, and very easy for that to be the difference between winning and losing.

[eagereyez]

The backup PG is not going to be the difference between winning or losing a title. Backups are easy to find - especially for contenders.