The NBA Most Valuable Player went to Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a second-straight season, recognizing his excellent contributions throughout the past season in Oklahoma City.
That announcement hit the internet and social media early, thanks to an announcement from ESPN’s NBA insider, Shams Charania, who is known for breaking significant news early about player injury returns, trades, and free-agent signings.
However, the MVP announcement was scheduled to be part of Amazon Prime’s pregame coverage of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.
They still made the official announcement, highlighting the impressive feat SGA achieved. However, Shams’ spoiler announcement of the MVP winner drew remarks from the “NBA on Prime” crew during their on-air discussions, with Blake Griffin specifically calling out the insider.
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“Dirk [Nowitzki] and Steve [Nash] you all both won MVPs, but I don’t remember Shams spoiling it way back then,” host Taylor Rooks said.
“He was a baby then,” Nowitzki replied during the Prime pregame show.
“What are we doing, man? It’s Sunday, Shams. Go to brunch, you nerd,” Griffin chimed in.
Nash, a back-to-back winner of the award during his impressive NBA career, announced SGA as the winner during Prime’s pregame show.
Gilgeous-Alexander became the 14th player in league history to capture back-to-back MVP Awards, and the first since Nikola Jokic. Others who accomplished that feat included basketball legends Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Wilt Chamberlain.
The Prime crew didn’t seem overly upset with Charania spoiling their announcement, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Oklahoma City Thunder star was going to claim his second award. His main competition for the win was former winner Jokic and the new young contender, Victor Wembanyama.
He averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game this past season. The Thunder finished their season 64-18, claiming the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
According to the NBA’s reveal of MVP voting, he received 53 first-place votes, 13 second-place votes, three third-place votes, and one fourth-place vote, for a total of 939 points.
SGA will carry the momentum of winning this award along with the momentum of sweeping the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers into the Western Conference Finals. He and the Thunder take on Wemby and the Spurs beginning Monday night.
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