Pelicans’ Jeremiah Fears claps back at Lu Dort after scuffle

New Orleans Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears was physically removed from the court at the Paycom Center at the end of a 104-95 loss during a scuffle with Oklahoma City Thunder veteran Lu Dort, and both benches cleared. After the final buzzer, a no-call on a foul turned into Dort shoving Fears twice after words were exchanged. The Pelicans’ rookie was held back from the court, through the tunnel, and directly to the visitors’ locker room as he pushed back along the way.

Then, Fears responded in the comments section of a picture of Dort shoving him on Instagram, per The Oklahoman’s Jordan Davis.

“soft [as hell],” Fears replied to the phone, accompanied by three crying-laughing emojis.

Jeremiah Fears’ reaction to the altercation: https://t.co/Pcv52T4P7Y pic.twitter.com/LEGqzhRz1z

— Jordan Davis (@thejordancdavis) January 28, 2026

After Fears was removed from the court, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson chased him through the tunnel, as team officials were still escorting Fears to the locker room, per The Franchise 107.7’s Jerry Ramsey.

Still holding Fears after the game. pic.twitter.com/AzL7FLwaGS

— Jerry Ramsey (@TVsJerry) January 28, 2026

After Fears’ 3-pointer trimmed the Pelicans’ 17-point deficit down to five (92-87) with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter, the Thunder outscored New Orleans 12-8 down the stretch as tempers flared between the two teams on two separate occasions. First, Jaylin Williams and Saddiq Bey needed to be separated with 1:18 left. Then, Dort and Fears got into it as the game clock expired.

Mark Daigneault’s reaction to Lu Dort-Jeremiah Fears’ fight

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault discussed the officials after the scuffle between Lu Dort and Jeremiah Fears at the end of Tuesday’s nine-point Pelicans loss. Alluding to the friction between Thunder’s Jaylin Williams and Saddiq Bey, Daigneault says the referees lost control of the game.

“Two things on it. The first one is: I thought good guys, good crew, but I thought they lost control of the game in the final minutes. That altercation at the end started well before that with the Bey and J-Will situation. I thought they could have managed that cleaner,” Daigneault said. “Then, the second thing is: I think that’s a foul on Dort.

“And if it was, they should put a whistle on that play regardless of the score and the time, because if they do that, everybody stops playing, and you can legislate the situation as you normally would. But, because they didn’t put a whistle on it, it’s the end of the game. You can do nothing about it, and you end up with that situation.”

Mark Daigneault’s response to the Dort/Fears scuffle: “Two things… first, good guys, good crew, but I thought they lost control of the game in the final minutes…

Second, I think that was a foul on Dort. And if it was, they should put a whistle on that play regardless” pic.twitter.com/whzDoBbFXb

— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) January 28, 2026

The Pelicans will host the Grizzlies on Friday.

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