Shams Charania Shamed For Leaking NBA MVP Award

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Shams Charania Shamed For Leaking NBA MVP Award

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Holleran | Last updated May 17, 2026 4:21 PM ET

Shams Charania is a newsbreaker. On Sunday morning, the ESPN NBA insider broke some major news.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won the NBA's MVP award. It's his second straight MVP award.

Multiple sources tell me this morning that Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been voted as the NBA’s most valuable player,” Charania said in a post on X. “This means he’s won back-to-back MVP awards.”

Just in on @SportsCenter AM -- OKC's SGA is winning a second consecutive NBA MVP: pic.twitter.com/49kxduuzKc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 17, 2026

But should this be something that is leaked?

What's the benefit? Do we need this information early?

Some in the NBA world are being critical of Charania for leaking the news.

NBA fans criticize Shams for leaking news

"We all knew he was winning but why couldn’t we just wait for the official announcement tonight out of respect?" one wrote.

"NBA and Prime not happy with Shams Charania after he ruined their scheduled MVP announcement tonight," one fan added.

"One thing is for sure: Shams Charania spoiled the MVP announcement for Prime and the NBA, and I'm sure they aren't happy about it. I think it is because Shams had a pre-scheduled tweet, but he confused the PM with AM. It was supposed to be announced today at 7:30 PM EST (6:30 PM CST), but instead he tweeted it at 7:30 AM EST (6:30 AM CST) This is why 24h clock is better than 12h one :)," another fan speculated.

"2nd year in a row Shams leaks the MVP news It was supposed to be announced on Amazon Prime tonight ," one fan added.

Others, meanwhile, are defending him.