ESPN’s NBA spoiler problem may have struck again. Just days after Shams Charania drew backlash for revealing the 2026 MVP before the league’s official announcement, another ESPN reporter appears to have accidentally spoiled a major award winner. This time, it was Dave McMenamin who caught fans’ attention after publishing an article that seemingly revealed the NBA’s 2026 Coach of the Year ahead of schedule.

In an ESPN article titled “SGA, Jokic, Wembanyama, Doncic, Cunningham make 1st-team All-NBA,” McMenamin appeared to reveal that Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff had won the NBA’s 2026 Coach of the Year award before the league officially announced it!

Now, Bickerstaff is widely viewed as a deserving candidate after leading Detroit to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference following one of the league’s biggest turnarounds. The Pistons eventually lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, but Bickerstaff’s work this season made him one of the clear favorites for the award.

But the issue here for many fans is simple: the NBA had scheduled the official Coach of the Year announcement for Tuesday, May 26. Instead, anyone searching online could already find Bickerstaff’s name attached to the award before the reveal even aired, badly undercutting the suspense the league and its broadcast partners were trying to build.

Update: After the backlash online, Bickerstaff’s name was removed from the article.

McMenamin’s article also listed several other award winners and All-NBA selections from the 2025-26 season, including Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year. Interestingly, though, the MVP category was omitted entirely after the recent controversy surrounding Shams Charania’s early reveal of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s award.

That only made the apparent Bickerstaff reveal stand out even more and immediately drew comparisons to Charania’s earlier scoop. Fans on social media quickly connected the situation back to Charania.

Comments such as “The Shams Effect smh…” and “Yes, looking at you, Shams lol” flooded social media shortly after screenshots of McMenamin’s article started circulating online.

The reaction stems from the backlash ESPN already faced after Charania revealed SGA as the 2026 MVP hours before the NBA’s official announcement. Charles Barkley later criticized Charania’s MVP leak during an appearance on Sports Illustrated’s “SI Media with Jimmy Traina.”

“I like him a lot, but I didn’t like that leaking,” Barkley said. “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.”

Barkley’s frustration centered on the NBA’s new media-rights era, in which broadcast partners are paying enormous sums for exclusive programming and award reveals. Days later, Charania addressed the criticism himself.

Shams Charania Defended His Decision to Reveal the MVP Early

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had long been viewed as the favorite for MVP, but the controversy exploded when Charania reported the result hours before Amazon Prime Video’s planned announcement show on May 17.

Former NBA star Blake Griffin even joked about the timing online. “What are we doing? Like, it’s Sunday, Shams. Go to brunch, you nerd,” Griffin posted.

Charania later defended his reporting during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” explaining that his responsibility is to report verified information as soon as he confirms it.

“When I get news, when I get information, if I’ve vetted it, like I did late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, when I have news 100%,” Charania said, “No matter how big, no matter how small, my job is to report the news.”

The ESPN insider also emphasized the historical significance of Gilgeous-Alexander winning back-to-back MVP awards, calling it one of the biggest stories in basketball.

“That’s what I wake up thinking about,” Charania added. “That’s what I go to sleep thinking about. I feel the responsibility.”

Still, the backlash surrounding both incidents suggests many fans would rather experience those moments during the NBA’s official broadcasts rather than through early online reports.

And after two major award reveals surfaced within two weeks, ESPN’s reporting approach is now part of the conversation itself.