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On Sunday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the 14th NBA player to earn Most Valuable Player honors in back-to-back years. Shams Charania broke that news before it was officially revealed, and Blake Griffin fired a shot in his direction while participating in the actual announcement.
The sports world has produced a number of insiders who’ve become borderline celebrities due to their ability to land the scoops that fuel the social media accounts that boast millions of followers thanks to fans who’ve acquired an appetite for consuming news as soon as it breaks.
It has also spawned some rivalries between reporters who pride themselves on their ability to beat everyone else to the punch, like the one between Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, who have established themselves as the preeminent NFL whisperers. Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania also spent years competing against each other for NBA news, but the latter ascended to the throne after the former abruptly announced he was stepping away from the game in 2024.
Those insiders routinely catch heat for their tendency to “spoil” certain developments that don’t necessarily need to be reported on with the utmost haste, and Shams has once again managed to ruffle some feathers for jumping the gun when it came to this year’s MVP award.
Blake Griffin and Taylor Rooks threw some shade at Sham Charania for preempting the official MVP announcement
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the overwhelming favorite to take home the Most Valuable Player award for the second year in a row after leading the Thunder to the playoffs with the best record in the NBA, and on Sunday, he joined the exclusive club of the legends who’ve earned it in back-to-back seasons.
The reveal was supposed to take place on the pregame show for the Game 7 showdown between the Cavaliers and the Pistons, which was broadcast on Amazon Prime. There wasn’t really that much suspense surrounding it, but Charania nonetheless managed to suck all of the drama out of the official announcement by hopping online in the morning to let the world know SGA had won.
Breaking: Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won his second consecutive NBA Most Valuable Player award, becoming the 14th player in league history to win back-to-back MVPs, multiple sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 17, 2026
Taylor Rooks acknowledged that development while standing next to a couple of former MVPs in the form of Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash, noting neither of those players had their announcement spoiled by Shams. That led to Blake Griffin voicing some admonishment of his own, saying, “What are we doing, man? It’s Sunday, Shams. Go to brunch, you nerd. Come on.”
“It’s Sunday Shams go to brunch.”
– @blakegriffin23 pic.twitter.com/y4gxBVUZam
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 17, 2026
Boom roasted.