Terrence Shannon Jr. has stayed out of the spotlight while working in the community. He has hosted multiple events with the Boys and Girls Clubs across the country, but has never felt the need to have a camera at them. Shannon said as much during a rare event in which the media was allowed to cover.
“I’m not really like a camera guy, so like, I don’t care if it gets caught on camera, but even just taking a picture with a kid, or saying what’s up, it could make their day, so if I can do that, I’ll do it.”
It says a lot about society that some see the cynicism around athletes working in the community as a good public relations move.
The cynicism has led some players to do their work outside basketball in the dark. With no cameras around, players can do what they feel is right without the critique and questions about why they are doing the work that most directly affects people’s lives.
Truth be told, the only reason a press release was issued for the event is that the Minnesota Timberwolves organization found out about it. Shannon and his mother, Treanette Redding, organized the entire event.
They reached out to the Boys and Girls Clubs in the Twin Cities and proposed giving each family a $500 Hy-Vee gift card. It was even their idea for Shannon to spend time with each family during the hour-plus he spent grocery shopping, something that was admittedly foreign to Shannon.
“I haven’t pushed a cart in years,” he said. “I just DoorDash now.”
As the event began, a nervous Shannon joined Tim Schober to address the ten families in attendance. Schober surprised Shannon by announcing that he had some words for the families. An anxious Shannon looked immediately to his family for guidance before working up the nerve to speak.
“Um, so thank all of y’all for coming, um, um,” Shannon chucked to himself.
“My bad, I’m nervous,” he said before continuing. “I’m here to give all the families $500 to go around shopping for the holidays, and I’ll be here to shop with y’all.”
Shannon then went around to each table and spoke personally with the mothers and fathers of the Boys and Girls Club families. There were tears at some tables, and there was laughter at others. Shannon took pictures, answered questions about Anthony Edwards, and even voiced his opinion on the Vikings-Bears game that evening.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think they’re gonna lose.”
After almost an hour, Shannon and the families started shopping. Shannon tracked down each family to spend time with the kids he was there to support. Although every initial interaction between Shannon and the shoppers went in a similar fashion, Shannon would find members of the group, approach their cart, and then ask: “What kind of candy do y’all like?” /
That inevitably led to Shannon escorting the cart to the Hy-Vee candy aisle while they talked about the important things in life, candy, and snacks. Shannon is known in his family for his sweet tooth and ensured that every member of the Boys and Girls Club, including the health-conscious families, left with snacks – Pockys, gummy bears, or his personal favorite, sugar babies.
As the event continued, Shannon transitioned from candy-aisle guide to professional cart emptier, helping the remaining families in the store empty their grocery carts and bag their food. Again, he was sure to comment on everyone’s candy choice.
The event itself was a masterclass on why athletes being active in the communities matters. Shannon was a Boys and Girls Club member in his youth. Now, he’s considered an alumnus of the program and a success story about how helping out and spending time with less fortunate members of a community can help them overcome obstacles that not everyone faces.
After the Wolves drafted Shannon, he brought that passion to the Twin Cities to do what he could outside of basketball. It’s a passion his mother passed on to him at an early age.
“I mean, I couldn’t always get everything I wanted, but my mom always did her best to make sure I had what I needed,” he said.
“She did the best she could. She worked multiple jobs. … She’s the hardest-working lady I know, so everything we went through growing up, I can only imagine somebody had it worse than us. I’m not saying we had it that bad, but she struggled and made it happen, so for me to go out and help other families…it makes me feel good.”
As the event concluded and the cameras shut down one by one, Shannon’s family and friends left, and Shannon eventually said goodbye. Later, SportsCenter and House of Highlights picked up footage from that event, which went viral. In the comments, there were many trite, cynical critiques of why he held his event in front of the cameras.
I can attest that if it were up to Shannon, there would be no cameras. However, because they were allowed, the amount of joy and goodwill that his act of kindness was able to spread is why I disagree with the criticism.