Overview
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the 2026 MVP with 83 first-place votes and 939 points, becoming the first guard since Stephen Curry to claim back-to-back awards.
- ESPN insider Shams Charania reported the result roughly 12 hours before Prime Video’s planned Sunday night reveal, prompting on-air frustration from the NBA on Prime team and a joking rebuke from Blake Griffin.
- Draymond Green said the early leak was “pathetic,” argued it made the league look disorganized, and urged Commissioner Adam Silver to respond.
- Charania defended the scoop on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, saying he vetted the information and that his job is to report confirmed news without delay.
- The flap revived a long-running media debate, with some outlets backing the reporter’s duty to publish and others stressing the value of partners’ timed announcements, noting past award leaks like Adrian Wojnarowski’s 2020 MVP scoop.