Markelle Fultz may not be anywhere close to where he would be projected to be, as a first overall pick in his third year in the league, but at least he’s contributing to winning basketball on a team that isn’t totally awful. That’s all we can ask for at this point, give him a few months of this and we can start asking for more, but now, people should be content.
At this point, I think everyone on earth (who is aware of the NBA) wants Fultz to succeed. There are probably some haters, and a decent amount of people who still find joy in mocking him (which I blame no one for, this dude has had a very mockable career thus far), but for the most part, people want to see a widely hyped prospect do well in the NBA. Who doesn’t want to watch better players play better basketball?
Success is relative for him; last year, just making a jumper was considered a success. I guess it still is, actually. He is raising the bar higher and higher, now. Three-pointers are still enough of a rarity to get people hyped up, but him having a decent game is not. He’s been having decent games the whole season, small amounts of points and assist acquired fairly efficiently.
Now he’s busted out. This is the good kind of busting, not the bad kind. This is 19 points worth of busting, the most he’s ever scored, on his most efficient shooting ever. He did it all. Threes, midrange, layups, and some sick dunks. Only two assists, but why would you pass the ball when you can make nearly every shot you take? It is only a matter of time before he gets his first 20-burger, and then we can start the difficult conversation of him being too good for my channel. We should’ve been having that convo last year or even the year before, but better late than never.