Trainer confirms Markelle Fultz had 'yips' and 'forgot how to shoot'

Markelle Fultz's personal trainer Drew Hanlen merely confirmed the obvious about the 2017 No. 1 overall pick.

Hanlen, a well-known trainer that has worked with several NBA stars including Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, has been tabbed to correct Fultz's broken jumper, and he minced no words about how little he was working with.

"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 explained on the Talking Schmidt Podcast.

Fultz was the consensus top pick after being described by many as a James Harden style of combo guard. Not only could Fultz break down his man and get to the rim, but he was also a strong 3-point shooter, as evidenced by his 41.3 percent mark on five 3-point attempts per game as a freshman.

However, he was basically unwilling to shoot in the NBA, and the team had to mask his sudden lack of confidence holding him out with a convenient shoulder injury. Fultz returned by season's end, but he hardly played in the playoffs, and took just one 3-pointer all season.

The upside for Sixers fans is that Hanlen is an accomplished trainer, and he says Fultz is already ahead of schedule.

"We're way ahead of pace of where I thought we would be. 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 No. 1 pick," Hanlan said.