ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania made waves when he reported the 2026 NBA MVP award winner (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) several hours ahead of Prime Video’s official announcement last Sunday. Charania has faced plenty of criticism for the report, and another ESPN star came to his defense on Saturday night.
Stephen A. Smith posted to X on Saturday night, agreeing with a post from former ESPN personality and current writer for The Atlantic, Jemele Hill, that supported Charania’s decision to deliver the report.
As part of his post, Smith wrote, “Leave that man alone. Shams did his job.”
“Exact correct sentiment here by [Jemele Hill,” Smith posted to X. “Fact: [Shams Charania] does not work for Amazon or the NBA. He did nothing wrong. His job is to scoop anyone he can on NBA News and that’s exactly what he did. What if he hadn’t done it and someone else did before the broadcast. Would anyone be in front of his honchos imploring them to give [Shams Charania] a pass because he got scooped? Leave that man alone. Shams did his job.”
Hill’s post was in response to comments made by Charles Barkley, in which he criticized the early announcement from Charania. It was certainly notable considering that Barkley stars on ESPN’s Inside the NBA (Draymond Green, an Inside the NBA guest analyst, was also among those who spoke up about disliking the Charania report).
“I like him a lot, but I didn’t like that leaking,” Barkley explained on the SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina. “(Amazon) paid $2.5 billion for the next 11 years… I think they deserved an exclusive. I think the NBA should be embarrassed that that got out. You know, you can’t charge these networks that much money and then don’t give them some exclusives on some things. I mean, I just think that’s unfair.”
And in an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show last Monday, Charania defended his report.
“So this is a massive story. And when I get it, I vet it. And then my job is to report the news,” Charania explained. “And so that’s all I focus on. That’s what I wake up thinking about. That’s what I go to sleep thinking about. I feel a responsibility. And like you said, Pat, this isn’t the first time necessarily, but it’s not going to be the last time where I’m just going to try to do my job to the best of my ability.”
As Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann recently wrote in detail, Charania is doing exactly what ESPN pays him to do. It’s unfortunate, to the point that Barkley made, how this worked out for Amazon. But Charania is doing his job as an ESPN NBA insider. Charania doesn’t work for Amazon or the NBA, as Smith and Hill noted.
If there’s anyone that people should be mad at in this whole ordeal, it’s the NBA. If you want the NBA MVP award to be a super-secretive, exclusive reveal, then keep it under wraps until the “official” announcement. Otherwise, the news will get out there in this day and age, and Charania shouldn’t be blamed for taking advantage of a great opportunity to deliver a big scoop.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.