Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky Fultz to Make NBA Return After Long Injury Layoff

The former UW guard tore up his left knee 14 months ago.

Dan Raley

In this story:

Markelle Fultz, out nearly 14 months while recovering from a serious knee injury, will make his NBA return for the Orlando Magic on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers.

The former University of Washington guard and NBA No. 1 draft pick in 2017 suffered a torn ACL on Jan. 6, 2021, when his left knee buckled without contact in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had to leave the floor in a wheelchair.

Fultz played as a freshman for the UW for Lorenzo Romar's final team in 2016-17 but he was limited to 25 games after he suffered assorted injuries. He still averaged 23.2 points per game to lead the Pac-12 in scoring. 

Fultz returned to practice in December, but has been brought along slowly to make sure he has regained enough strength to withstand the rigors of the NBA.

The guard signed a three-year, $50 million contract extension in December 2020. He had been averaging a career-best 14.3 points, along with 3.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists before the injury.

Markelle Fultz suffered a knee injury in early 2021.
Markelle Fultz injured his left knee in January 2021.  :: Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

Fultz was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers as part of their lengthy rebuild but struggled with a difficult to diagnose shoulder injury ultimately determined to be thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve ailment that affected the feeling in the right arm and hand. He was traded to the Magic in February 2019.

In four prior seasons, he had appeared in just 113 games for the Magic and 76ers, starting 83.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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