By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Monday night was a whirlwind of emotions for the Sixers and their fans. Markelle Fultz unexpectedly made his return and put up a strong line of 10 points, eight assists and four rebounds in his first game back after a 68-game absence. It's been quite some time since Fultz got to speak with the media, and it's not surprising that the 19-year-old was asked about his mysterious shoulder injury that has been described as both shoulder imbalance and scapular dyskinesis.
Instead of providing some long-awaited answers to the questions of his injury that Bryan Colangelo and Brett Brown couldn't explain, Fultz just responded with complete silence. Check out his post-game comments below. At the 2:06 mark, a member of the media asked if he did something to his shoulder or if it was just sore. Fultz wiped his face with a towel to about 12 seconds of silence. At the 2:40 mark, Fultz is asked if there's a reason he doesn't want to talk about the injury specifically, and there was more silence.
The first question asked was if he could explain what happened over the last few months with his injury. Fultz avoided that question and praised his teammates, coaches and training staff for sticking with him through rehab. The reporter responded, asking if he could go into more detail about how the injury happened. Same response about the team and coaches. That was all he'd reveal.
Let's be clear. Having Fultz back on the court, especially in the way it all developed was pretty special. Brett Brown was emotional while announcing he would play, the Philadelphia fans gave him a large ovation and in the fourth quarter, they called for Brown to put Fultz back in by mocking Minnesota's Skol chant, replacing it with Fultz. After the game, Fultz was doused with water by Robert Covington and all felt right in the world. If you weren't emotional at one point last night as a Sixers fan, then you probably need to get yourself check.
Let's also be clear on this. The media also has the obligation to do their job. There's nothing wrong with them asking about the injury, especially since Colangelo was very mum on how it happened all season long. Fultz has every right not to answer. Would it have been nice to get a "I'd rather not talk about that, can we stick to the game?" or something, but again, he doesn't have to reveal anything. He's a 19-year-old kid who's been through a ton and may have been told not to say another. At the same time, for a fan base that judged every single video of his rehab, immediately dismissing the cause of an injury that led him to miss 68 games seems hypocritical.
Moving on, it isn't shocking that Fultz's silence made some national news on Tuesday. The most notable rant on Fultz's post-game comments, or lack thereof, was none other than Stephen A. Smith. The boisterious First Take co-host called Fultz's decision to remain silent "pathetic and insulting" while also calling the 2017 No. 1 overall pick "entitled" and a "fool".
Say what you want about Fultz's injury and his lack of comments about it, but the important thing is that he's back on the court…hopefully for good. We'll get another look at Fultz as the Sixers go for their eighth straight win on Wednesday against the Knicks.
