The Philadelphia 76ers are an interesting and unfortunate example of basketball karma. They’ve won the draft lottery multiple times, and taken exciting prospects, and then those prospects inevitably get hurt and miss a ton of games.
The circle of life, in NBA form. They just drafted Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick, and after a sterling summer league debut, Fultz was on the court against the Warriors in Las Vegas on Saturday night when he went down hurt, and had to be helped to the locker room.
Looked like a left ankle sprain for #1 overall pick Markelle Fultz, getting helped off pic.twitter.com/aceCgUGhc5
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 9, 2017
Markelle Fultz stepped on the back of Brown's foot then rolled his ankle, 2 looks pic.twitter.com/kxG2VfGFX1
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 9, 2017
Earlier in the broadcast, Joel Embiid had mocked a graphic that attempted to mention how many games 76ers draft picks played in their first professional years:
According to whatever network this is,I've NEVER played a game in my life.Nerlens neither.I guess I can be a freaking ROOKIE next year again pic.twitter.com/nhoMt9cxtQ
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 9, 2017
Obviously that graphic could have been written in a clearer fashion, but after Fultz was injured, it came back (updated with “first seasons” in the top right), because this is just the kind of thing that tends to happen to Philadelphia.
Oh no no no.. don't do this to us
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) July 9, 2017
Hopefully Fultz’s injury is one that will fully heal by training camp. Summer league is fun, and Fultz is fun to watch, but missing these next few games wouldn’t be the end of the world for Fultz’s development. Still, this is a very Philadelphia thing to have happen. Their fans deserve to see their team at full strength, especially after waiting this long for a potentially exciting year.
