Coming into the Sixers’ first summer league practice on Thursday afternoon at the team’s practice facility, there was one simple question that needed asking: Will Markelle Fultz be playing?
The answer is yes, and Fultz will join second-year swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in the backcourt as the Summer Sixers headliners. Sixers assistant and summer league coach Billy Lange was asked about his first impressions of Fultz in a team practice setting, and Lange’s response had little to do with any of Fultz’s on-court attributes.
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You see, folks, the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft apparently asks pretty good questions. And that's a good thing.
“A lot of times when guys come in and they’ve got his pedigree or reputation, they’re afraid to ask what they might think are real simple and basic questions,” Lange said. “But regardless of who the coach was, he was eager to want to learn, come up, and make sure he can find a way to fit in.”
Lange said that he was impressed by Fultz’s ability to take coaching drawn up on a whiteboard and apply it to a live scrimmage setting. For his part, Fultz said that being inquisitive is just part of his personality.
“They have different plays and the way they play defense,” Fultz said. “And I just want to be the best player I can be. In order to do that, I got to learn the plays to the best of my ability and everything like that. So if I don’t know something, I’m not hesitating to ask a question.”
Fultz wasn’t just working out with his summer league teammates, either. At one point at the end of practice, he went through perimeter drills “building chemistry” with Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas, and Joel Embiid.
This all may not seem a big deal, but the talented young point guard’s attitude will be important when he goes through his ups and downs. As a 19-year-old getting his first taste of the NBA, there will be plenty of challenges.
The good news is that Fultz at least sounds prepared for what is about to be thrown his way.
“I think it’s too early to figure out what the [specific] challenge is, but figuring things out,” Lange said. “But he’ll want to figure it out and he’s a good player, so there’s no problem.”
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