The drama with Shams Charania’s early breaking news of the NBA MVP news got just a little more fun on Monday.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews made sure to lean into the situation when Charania joined NBA Today to provide some news updates.
Andrews did it subtly, saying that Charania was joining the show “fresh off brunch”:
“Let’s say hello to our senior insider, Shams Charania, who joins us fresh off brunch…” 😏 https://t.co/ve5GnM20VE pic.twitter.com/EJVS8FWQyk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 18, 2026
The brunch line stems from the night before.
Amazon Prime Video was supposed to break the MVP news on its pregame show Sunday night, but Charania had broken it Sunday morning. That led to Prime studio analyst remarking that Charania should’ve been at brunch on a Sunday morning rather than breaking news.
“It’s Sunday Shams go to brunch.”
– @blakegriffin23 pic.twitter.com/y4gxBVUZam
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 17, 2026
Charania has spoken openly about the role his job plays in his life, taking precedent over pretty much everything.
Regardless of how you feel about that, it’s true, and it’s how Charania has become the preeminent insider in the NBA.
So when he had the MVP news, he broke it. That’s how he operates.
And shoot, he probably could’ve pulled that off at brunch anyway.
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