Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jeremiah Fears Get Chippy in NBA Summer League

Terrence Shannon Jr. may only be entering his second NBA season, but the soon-to-be 25-year-old has loads of high-level basketball experience under his belt – including meaningful minutes in the 2025 Western Conference Finals against the eventual NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

So despite the former Illini wing only having no more than a year of NBA seniority over any of his Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League teammates, Shannon – who had a spectacular 2025 summer league debut – is the natural choice as Minnesota’s veteran presence, and therefore, protector.

So it was that, at the tail end of the first half against the New Orleans on Thursday, Pelicans lottery pick Jeremiah Fears – a former Illinois commit who eventually landed at Oklahoma – gave Timberwolves first-round pick Joan Beringer a little chicken wing that Shannon wasn’t a fan of. 

Shannon’s response? A shove for a shove. Except the 216-pound Shannon put a bit of extra oomph on his shove, pinballing the 183-pound Fears – who, mind you, is just 18 years old – across the lane.