Just before the start of Game 3, Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori told rookie wing Terrence Shannon Jr. to “be ready” at the start of the second quarter.

It was go time.

Through two games of the Western Conference Finals, it was apparent Minnesota needed a jolt. Someone who could play in transition and pierce the paint. Shannon fit the bill. Nori’s assertion wasn’t news to Shannon. He’d heard the day prior that he was set to receive minutes — from veteran guard Mike Conley.

“I hadn’t even talked to Coach (Chris Finch),” Conley said. “I just know that’s one weapon we have that can come in and spark us.”

Shannon has been that at various points of the season for Minnesota. He had a double double — 17 points and 10 rebounds — to help lead the Wolves’ wild comeback win in Oklahoma City in February. Two days later, he scored 25 points against the Lakers.

While only a rookie, Shannon will turn 25 in two months. He’s older than Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards. So, not only is he experienced — Shannon was one of the best college basketball players in the country last season — but his age puts him right on the same timeline of Minnesota’s primary young franchise pillars.

He and Edwards immediately connected.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (00) celebrate during the second half of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, May 24, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

“That’s my dawg, man. We talk all the time, give each other feedback,” Shannon said. “We both work hard and we love the game, so we gelled right away when I got here.”

That hard-working aspect of Shannon is what immediately caught Edwards’ eye. Every night after Edwards wraps his session with Wolves’ player development guru Chris Hines, Shannon and Hines immediately go to work.

Conley noted the two wings play one-on-one “all the time.” Shannon obviously doesn’t approach Edwards’ stratosphere — he consistently maintains Edwards is the best player on the planet — but the two certainly share traits.

“They’re very similar body types and just play downhill,” Conley noted.

Minnesota lacks guys who can play that way when Edwards isn’t on the floor. Putting Shannon in on Saturday clearly caught Oklahoma City on its heels. Suddenly, Minnesota had another paint threat.

Shannon scored 15 points in just 13 minutes.

“That’s my game, attacking downhill, getting in the paint and making the open shot,” Shannon said. “I always work, I always stay ready (to) be the best teammate I can be during the game time and when my name’s called, do what I do.”

Conley described Shannon as a “one-man fastbreak” and added the wing can apply “the same amount of pressure” in that setting as Edwards. The veteran said Shannon will learn how to make plays out of those situations, but for now he’s happy watching the rookie live solely in attack mode.

“He’s that good,” Conley said.

So, why hasn’t he played more this season? It’s a product of Minnesota’s roster.

The Timberwolves have eight veterans who would be in the top six of nearly every NBA rotation. That left little opportunity for anyone else to break through. Shannon understood that the moment he was drafted to a Western Conference Finals team from a season ago. It’s why he didn’t struggle with riding the pine for much of the campaign.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (9) celebrates with guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (00) during the first half of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, May 24, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

“I knew I was going to have to work my butt off to get in the rotation or even get minutes. I just go out there with a smile on my face every day,” Shannon said. “My time will come when it comes, man. Just taking advantage of each day is what you’ve gotta do. If you dwell on anything, ain’t gonna be no way to do it.”

That time figures to be in the new future, as Minnesota seems unlikely to be able to re-sign everyone from its top eight this season, as Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid and even potentially Julius Randle all enter free agency. One or two of those guys will certainly be back in Minnesota. But all three? Probably not.

But it also appears Shannon’s “time” could start now.

“You’re definitely going to see him more (in this series),” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “First thing is to be good in this league, you’ve gotta keep doing what you’ve already just done, so we just want to see more of the same. But we know either way, whether the shots go in or he scores or doesn’t score, he’s going to bring energy and competitiveness. That’s what we really love about him.”

By BRIAN MELLEY and STEVE DOUGLAS, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A 53-year-old British man plowed his minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who had been celebrating the city team’s Premier League championship on Monday and was arrested, police said.

There was no immediate word from authorities on how many people were injured. An air ambulance and other emergency vehicles swarmed the scene to respond to reports that multiple pedestrians had been hit.

“It was extremely fast,” said Harry Rashid, who was at the parade with his wife and two young daughters and only several feet away. “Initially, we just heard the pop, pop, pop of people just being knocked off the bonnet of a car.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was being updated on the situation and thanked police for their quick response.

“The scenes in Liverpool are appalling — my thoughts are with all those injured or affected,” Starmer said.

Liverpool fans had come out in their tens of thousands to celebrate the team winning the Premier League this season for a record-tying 20th top-flight title.

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Liverpool’s last league title came in 2020 but supporters were denied the chance to publicly celebrate that trophy due to restrictions in place at the time during the pandemic.

Dancing, scarf-and-flag-waving fans braved wet weather to line the streets and climb up traffic lights to get a view of Liverpool’s players who were atop two buses bearing the words “Ours Again.”

The hours-long procession — surrounded by a thick layer of police and security — crawled along a 10-mile (16-kilometer) route and through a sea of red smoke and rain. Fireworks exploded from the Royal Liver Building in the heart of the city to seemingly signal the end of the parade.

The team issued a short statement saying its thoughts and prayers were with those affected.

Rashid said after the car rammed its initial victims, it came to a halt and the crowd charged the vehicle and began smashing windows.

“But then he put his foot down again and just plowed through the rest of them, he just kept going,” Rashid said. “It was horrible. And you could hear the bumps as he was going over the people.”

Rashid said it looked deliberate and he was in shock and disbelief.

“My daughter started screaming and there were people on the ground,” he said. “They were just innocent people, just fans going to enjoy the parade.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks at Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day.

Trump on Monday also placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a somber tradition for U.S. presidents. The president paused after placing the wreath, then stepped back and saluted during the playing of “Taps.” Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined him.

But Trump began the day with a decidedly different tone. In an all-caps social media message, Trump ranted at former President Joe Biden, calling him the “SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS” and accusing him of allowing “AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE”

Trump also went after federal judges who have blocked efforts to enact his mass deportation agenda, calling them “USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY.”

“HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL,” Trump wrote on his social media site.

That was after he posted a separate message proclaiming “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!” Saying “Happy Memorial Day” is considered verboten because the day is considered a solemn day to honor soldiers killed in service.

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Eli Mau made sure to save one of the breakfast muffins from the school cafeteria for his grandma on Thursday.

It is, after all, originally her recipe.

Mau, 21, is a student at Focus Beyond, a district transition program for St. Paul Public Schools students with disabilities ages 18 to 22. He works two days a week at the district’s Lighthouse Coffee cart in the lobby of the district’s central administration building.

An avid baker, Mau wanted to add a homemade item to the coffee cart’s menu this past winter. But because its employees aren’t permitted to sell home-baked goods to the public, Focus Beyond work coordinator Jenelle Kelly connected Mau with the district’s nutrition center manager, chef Bono Gbolo.

“I asked Chef if he would be open to meeting with Eli, kind of chef-to-chef, just to talk about what it’s like to be a chef, to give him some ideas and some, maybe some career advice,” Kelly said. “And Chef brought the dreams.”

Mau had considered blue velvet cake and other ideas, but Gbolo suggested Mau bring some recipes to share.

“Eli told Chef stories about the recipes and why they were meaningful for his family, and then together, they kind of narrowed down to this apple muffin,” Kelly said.

Decisions were in part based on staying in compliance with nutrition requirements – blue velvet cake wouldn’t work, for example, because it would require a blue dye. Eventually, the two decided on Grandma’s apple cake recipe, which would need to be converted into a muffin.

“Since we already had muffins in our system, it was easy for us to take that recipe, change the configurations and the dimensions that were needed to make it more palatable, and then also omit some ingredients too, so that we were in compliance,” Gbolo said.

The next step was inviting Mau to the district’s central kitchen for a taste test of existing products and two new versions of his grandma’s recipe.

Besides needing to meet nutritional requirements, the recipe was adjusted to make enough to feed the thousands of students served by SPPS. The district of more than 33,000 students serves food to about 21,000 daily, Gbolo said.

With a recipe selected, Mau then designed and drew the label for the muffin, which features his grandma mixing ingredients in a smiling pot. ChatGPT helped him pick a name for their creation, Golden Hug Muffin. On Thursday, his classmates tried the final product at Focus Beyond for the first time. It will be served districtwide starting in the fall.

“I was looking for the one that tasted most like this, and what my grandma would like too,” Mau said.

It’s Mau’s last year with Focus Beyond, so he won’t be with the district when the muffins are served next school year, but he still has other baking opportunities and encouragement in mind.

“People should try to make more recipes and just get your recipes out there and stuff,” Mau said.

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