Sixers

Markelle Fultz and Drew Hanlen are Reportedly No Longer on Speaking Terms

By Russ Joy

Published: Nov 12th, 2018 · 9:55 PM EST

---

I hate writing this, but I have to.

Markelle Fultz looks broken. Over the past few weeks, he’s looked more engaged defensively and has had spurts of attacking the rim with reckless abandon, but that jumper he spent the summer working on with Drew Hanlen? Gone. Its absence has overshadowed any positives the most ardent supporter could muster arguing. Any threat of a shot from outside five feet? Non-existent. Now it appears his relationship with Hanlen is just that:

Markelle Fultz and Drew Hanlen are no longer working together or on speaking terms, according to league sources. No word on why the two parted ways, but their relationship deteriorated about three weeks ago. Prior to this falling out, Fultz spent the summer training with Hanlen.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) November 13, 2018

There’s no way to quantify what it meant for Fultz to work with Hanlen, other than to state the obvious: the broken shot we saw Fultz use tentatively last season was replaced with a somewhat repeatable, quasi-functional jumper. But it’s gone. It’s really gone.

About a week ago, Fultz took an awful three:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpx-xaNBjor/?utm_source=ig_embed

But it got awkward for fans – many of whom have supported the kid unconditionally – when he seemed to make fun of himself:

Lol fultz with the comment on the vid of his 3 pic.twitter.com/6QdMKtBohv

— drew (@sixersruinedme) November 5, 2018

Last Monday, Kevin wrote up a blurb about a since-deleted tweet by Fultz’s now former trainer:

Fultz didn’t take to well to being asked about Hanlen’s tweet, nor Howard Eskin’s question about the last time the two had spoken:

.@howardeskin asked #Sixers guard Markelle Fultz the last time he spoke to Drew Hanlen. Fultz said: “Like I said, I’m not going to speak further on that.” … Fultz says he didn’t see the Tweet and no one is 100% healthy in this game. He wouldn’t comment much about the Tweet pic.twitter.com/PvIaCDQFt8

— Dave Uram (@MrUram) November 6, 2018

For a bit of context:

I've only ever seen Markelle push back or be irritated about something on three occasions:

1. locker room after last year's return game (silence RE: shoulder questions)
2. Media day (yips question)
3. Last week (Hanlen deleted tweet)

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) November 13, 2018

Exactly a week later, we were treated to something I’ve never seen in a game at any level: a pump fake on a free throw:

This is worse than we have ever seen Fultz's free throw form look. pic.twitter.com/FhCYpNpd5b

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) November 13, 2018

Call it whatever you want. Yips. Lack of confidence. Getting in his own head. Youthful arrogance. Quite frankly, I don’t care. Fultz can say it’s physical, like he did all last year, but when you watch his body language and hear how he responds to questions, I see a kid in pain. He’s not stupid. He knows that somehow he’s forgotten how to be the dynamic player the Sixers traded up for. He’s probably carrying a ton of weight on his shoulders knowing that the league is laughing at him. He’s now reportedly split with yet another trainer. The shot looks like it’s back to the hitch-filled mess it was a year ago. It’s disappointing, heartbreaking really. If you care about the kid at all, maybe now’s the time to stop offering platitudes on social media and say what many are thinking: I hope the kid gets help. Otherwise, we could be mere years away from this: