Markelle Fultz endured a hugely difficult rookie season in the NBA as he barely took to the court due to a shoulder injury. 

After being taken with the number one pick in the draft last year, the Philadelphia 76ers had high hopes that he could help them make that next step in the Eastern Conference. 

But it was clear in the games he played at the start of the campaign that something clearly wasn't right with the youngster. 

Broken shot

Fultz was struggling to shoot the ball and turned into a lousy free-throw shooter with his awkward form at the line. 

He was the butt of a lot of jokes on social media as it became a mystery why his shooting motion had changed as soon as he entered the NBA. 

The 20-year-old was a reliable shooter in college but he didn't show that in his first couple of games in the league. 

The 76ers decided to get to the root of the problem as he underwent shoulder surgery and missed the majority of the campaign. 

Fultz did return in the latter stages of the regular season and looked a better player but head coach Brett Brown chose not to use him in the playoffs.

It was clear to everybody that the point guard had altered his shooting and that has now been confirmed by his trainer, Drew Hanlen. 

Hanlen, who is a well-known trainer that has worked with several NBA stars including Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, has been hired to help Fultz fix his broken jumper, and he provided an honest assessment of what the young Sixer went through.

"With Markelle, he had one of the most documented cases of kind of the yips in basketball over recent years, where he completely forgot how to shoot and had multiple hitches in his shot," Hanlen said on the Talking Schmidt Podcast.

Regaining confidence

He shot 41 percent on three-pointers in college and could get to the rim at will with his speed during his time with Washington. 

Philly saw him as the perfect player to complement the likes of Embiid and Ben Simmons on the floor and add another dimension to their offence as a combo guard.

But we're yet to see him make a real impression as he works on his shot. Hanlen could be the man to help him regain his confidence and he's liking the progress Fultz has made so far.

"We're way ahead of pace of where I thought we would be," he said.

"I thought it would take me at least six weeks before we had a serviceable jumpshot and we already started to shoot with a jump in week two.

"It's not perfect yet, but by the end of the summer, he'll be back whole, and he'll show people why he was the number one pick."

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