The NBA was supposed to announce Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s MVP award. Then it got scooped in what might be a power play, but it’s clearly a big whiff by the league.
ESPN’s Shams Charania beat the NBA’s official announcement to break the news that, as expected, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s guard had won the MVP award. His post on X (formerly Twitter) came a few hours ahead of when the winner was supposed to be revealed before TNT’s broadcast of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Perhaps this was a calculated attempt by ESPN to steal their rival network’s thunder (no pun intended) ahead of a broadcast. It’s possible that with TNT losing its NBA rights next season, someone in the league office leaked the news, perhaps as part of lingering bitterness over the lawsuit filed by Warner Bros. Discovery last year.
It’s another example of the downside of scoop culture, where reporters compete to be the first to announce information that will be readily available imminently. Declaring SGA’s award early is like reporters tipping picks seconds before they’re announced in the draft. It’s not really news; it’s spoilers.
But it’s taken the luster off the announcement, one that the NBA has struggled to get right over the years. It felt like the league lost an opportunity by not announcing during the Thunder’s series with the Denver Nuggets, when Gilgeous-Alexander was going up against his top MVP rival, Nikola Jokic. It’s a much better storyline for the NBA’s best players to find out while battling, and not when Jokic might already be back in Serbia.
The NBA has struggled to get it right. From 2017-19, it held a postseason awards show but gave up the idea after cancelling the next two years due to COVID-19. They’ve been left with awkward award presentations after MVPs have been eliminated, like when Giannis Antetokounmpo had to accept his award from Greece after his Milwaukee Bucks lost in the first round. In 2007, Dirk Nowitzki had to accept his MVP trophy after the Golden State Warriors upset his top-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
The NBA should probably simply announce all the awards after the season is over, though some journalists seem intent on spoiling the drama. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps has a recurring “MVP straw poll” of voters to predict the award, which also eliminates any surprises. Still, the league could at least ensure that the winners don’t leak immediately to reporters, even if it was very likely Gilgeous-Alexander would win.
After having TNT’s crew announce the awards for the last few seasons, this summer is an opportunity to improve. Perhaps when “Inside the NBA” is syndicated to ESPN next season, their reporters won’t try to spoil it. But the NBA needs to rethink the whole process.
