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NBA DRAFT 2017

June 22, 2017

Markelle Fultz

Brooklyn, New York

MARKELLE FULTZ: First of all, I want to say thank you for this opportunity first, and I'm just looking forward to this. I mean, this is something I've been dreaming about since I was a kid, just playing in the NBA, and playing for this organization is going to be great. It's close to home.

Like I was saying before, this is a dream come true, really, just all the hard work I put in coming into this. I'm looking forward to going into this organization and just giving it my all. That's one thing I always wanted to do, come in and give it my all, and then off the court I want to give back to the city and everything like that, and I'm just happy.

Q. It seems like you not only work hard but you can see the emotion in your eyes. Just talk about the whole step, the whole process, and what are you really feeling right now?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Right now it's unbelievable really. I mean, say you want to do something, and to go out and do it is unbelievable. Right now I'm very excited for myself and my family. I get a chance to take care of my family and I get to do something a lot of kids want to do. So I'm just very happy, and like I say, I'm blessed.

Q. Did you always know you would make it to the NBA, or when did you realize you would have a shot at this?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Yeah, I didn't know I was going to make it here. I mean, it was a goal when I was younger, and I just love the game of basketball, so I played it every day, just for fun, and it was something I loved to do. And I really figured out I had a chance to make it there probably my 11th grade. 11th grade, going into my 11th grade here, and I just realized that I was doing stuff that other kids weren't doing, and it just started to work out for me, so I just kept working hard.

Q. What's your main quality and what's your flaw?
MARKELLE FULTZ: I think my main quality is just my personality on and off the court, the way I am as a person. And the flaw, I mean, people might say I don't talk a lot really, so I think that's the flaw.

Q. You seem like you have a pretty good relationship with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. What is your relationship like with them?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Yeah, Ben Simmons, of course he went to Montverde, so going there I kind of knew about him and followed him on Twitter, Instagram, and then we ended up exchanging numbers. And I've been texting him through the college process, and just getting advice through college and just wishing him good luck.

And of course Embiid everyone knows him from Twitter and how funny he is and how good of a person he is. In the last couple weeks and stuff I started talking to him a lot more. He used to tweet and retweet my stuff. Like I said, once he figured out I had a chance to go there, he started showing more love and everything like that.

Q. When you went to Philadelphia or Camden last week, what was that like? And did you have a feeling at that point that was going to be the spot for you?
MARKELLE FULTZ: So that morning I woke up, I didn't know where I was going. I didn't know where I was working out for. My trainer Keith (Williams) just told me, "We've got to go to Philly." Okay, I play basketball, I love it. I just got in the car and went to sleep the whole way up. It's not that far, so we drove down there, worked out. And after I worked out, I felt confident in my workout. And just seeing the players there and everybody there happy, and them talking to me after the workout, just telling me they liked what I did and everything like that and trying to work out something, I just feel happy for myself. Like I said, all I needed is an opportunity, and I got the opportunity, so I was satisfied.

Q. Obviously it's sort of a whirlwind for you right now. Have you been able to have any conversations yet with Bryan Colangelo or Brett Brown, what they're expecting from you as you come into the organization?
MARKELLE FULTZ: We've just talked about just how glad they are for me really, not really the expectations but I'm pretty sure I'm going to talk to them soon about everything like that. They're pretty much just happy for me. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and that's pretty much what they were indicating to me, just have fun with this process no matter where I go, and I'm happy that I came here.

Q. A lot of people don't know about you that if you stayed in school you wanted to study accounting. I understand Josh Harris, the owner of the 76ers is a Wharton University of Pennsylvania alum. Are you going to ask if he can set it up to take some courses in the off-season?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Definitely. That's one thing I'm looking into, I invest my money and know what's going on with it. I want to use all the resources I can.

Q. Is that what drew you to accounting, the interest in it because of personal investing?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Yeah, definitely, and you make a lot of money doing it, so of course.

Q. This is kind of a point guard draft; how much pride do you take knowing that you and a bunch of other point guards are going very high in this draft?
MARKELLE FULTZ: I take a lot of pride in it. First of all, just being the competitive nature I have, I'm very competitive, and then just competing against all these guards. I know how talented they are and how talented this draft class. I think this point guard class is pretty strong.

Q. You've proven skeptics wrong throughout your high school and college career. Do you feel motivation to prove Boston wrong to trading the No. 1 pick?
MARKELLE FULTZ: I don't have anything against Boston, so I don't feel like that. I feel like everything I do is not to prove anybody wrong, it's to prove myself and do stuff that I set goals for myself, so that's what I'm looking forward to.

Q. You have a very Michael Jordan-like story where you were a 5'9" sophomore, you tried out for your varsity team and you didn't make it. At that point did you ever doubt that you would be here tonight?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Never. My confidence and my goals never changed no matter what. It just made me realize that it's a milestone that I have to get over, a hill I have to get over, and I just started working even harder. There's going to be bumps in the road, but that doesn't mean you've got to change your goal.

Q. What aspect of the game makes you the best player in this draft?
MARKELLE FULTZ: I think how versatile I am. I mean, I don't think it's one thing I can't do. I think I do everything at least decent, and that's what I think.

Q. Talking about your versatility, did they talk to you about playing off the ball, like you would slide to the two guard, Ben Simmons would be the point, or did they say you're going to be the point and he's going to move off?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Really it's just do whatever you need to do to win. It's going to be times where maybe Ben brings up the ball or times where I'm bringing up the ball. It's going to do whatever we need to do to win.

Q. You talked about this was always your dream, but was it your dream to be first?
MARKELLE FULTZ: Yeah, that was my goal. That was my goal. In high school I told my trainer Keith I wanted to be the No. 1 player in the country and the No. 1 draft pick, so it was a goal I set out there, and that's what I was striving for.

Q. There's so much energy in Philadelphia surrounding NBA basketball, the return of the Sixers, a great nucleus there. Talk about the excitement of being one of the centerpieces of the revitalization of the Sixers, a team that is so steeped in basketball tradition.
MARKELLE FULTZ: It's, like I said, a great opportunity, and I'm very excited really, just the fans in Philly, how they back up their players and everything like that, and I'm just looking forward to going in there and giving it my all and hopefully changing the program around.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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