Fulks began his career in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor to the NBA, in 1947. He was a member of the Philadelphia Warriors, and in his rookie season he led the league in scoring with 23.2 points per game. He was also named to the All-BAA First Team.
Fulks continued to dominate the league in the following seasons, leading the league in scoring in 1949 and 1950. He was also named to the All-BAA First Team in both of those seasons. In 1951, the BAA and the National Basketball League (NBL) merged to form the NBA, and Fulks was one of the few players to make the transition.
In the NBA, Fulks continued to be a dominant scorer, leading the league in scoring in 1952 and 1953. He was also named to the All-NBA First Team in both of those seasons. He was a three-time All-Star and was named to the All-Star Game's All-Time Team in 1954.
Fulks retired from the NBA in 1954 after seven seasons. He finished his career with a total of 11,964 points, which was the third-highest total in NBA history at the time. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.
Fulks was one of the first superstars of the NBA and is remembered as one of the greatest scorers in the history of the league. He was a dominant force in the paint and a prolific scorer, and his leaping ability earned him the nickname "Jumpin' Joe". He was a three-time All-Star and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.
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