Just a year ago, many NBA fans were calling Markelle Fultz a bust who would never amount to anything in the league. Fultz was drafted first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers and played very few games with them before being traded to Orlando. Shoulder problems plagued Fultz’s first few years in the league and it was hard for him to build momentum. Eventually, these issues are what brought on the bust label. Now, Fultz is thriving in Orlando and looks like a player with the potential to be dominant, for years to come.

In a new profile by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, Fultz spoke about some of the challenges he has faced throughout the early stage of his career. As he explains, he was on social media at the height of the hate against him and was well aware of the slander. For him, none of the stories mattered as he knew what the truth was.

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“The thing is, it didn’t really bother me,” Fultz explained. “If I saw something negative, most of the time I laughed at it. Because it’s just not true. People say some crazy stuff. I read somewhere that I got into a motorcycle accident. I cracked jokes with my friends about this stuff. People just don’t know. I was [injured]. That’s it.”

Fultz’s transformation is quite impressive and you have to give him props for staying the course and working through his injury woes. Fans were harsh on Fultz but now, he looks well on his way to a long, fruitful career.