Noah Lyles is one of the most successful track athletes in the world at the moment. He has been representing the United States in various world-level tournaments since 2016. He has quite an impressive resume with numerous gold medals. Lyles is one of the fastest sprinters in the sports community at the moment as well. The six-time World Champion had an interesting take on the NBA Trophy being classified as a World Title.
“World champion of what? The United States?”
Track and Field star Noah Lyles on NBA champs calling themselves World Champs.
(via @eurosport) pic.twitter.com/do1WC2vdYb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 27, 2023
He said, “I watch the NBA finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head. World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times but that ain’t the world. We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.” He commented on this matter shortly after winning three gold medals at the World Athletics Championships.
Noah Lyles believes that the tag of “World Champion” should not be given to players who win the NBA Finals. He highlighted that the NBA only consists of teams that represent cities within the United States. Similarly, the MLB and NFL have also been criticized for the same. Lyles’ comments did not sit well with several NBA players and a few American celebrities.
Charlamagne Tha God backs Drake with a savage comeback to Noah Lyles’ comment
After the clip of Noah Lyles went viral, Grammy Award-winning rapper, Drake responded. He said, “He thought this speech was gonna be so hard in the mirror the night before… now the whole league doesn’t rate u.” Drake has been a long-time supporter of the NBA, especially the Toronto Raptors. He has been spotted on several occasions hyping up the Raptors and other NBA players.
Popular American Radio host, Charlamagne Tha God also backed Drake in this argument. He called Noah Lyles the “Donkey of the Day.” Several other athletes also slammed Lyles. For example, reigning NBA Champion Aaron Gordon said, “Whatever… I’m smoking buddy in the 200m.” Phoenix Suns player Devin Booker responded with a facepalm emoticon and his teammate Kevin Durant said, “Somebody help this brother.”
Damn bro got jumped by the whole league😭😭 https://t.co/bt0ugjQB6g pic.twitter.com/L34aPnt42X
— ²³𝙻𝚎𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜🏀☄️🌎💞 (@BronGotGame) August 28, 2023
While it is easy to call out Noah Lyles over his comments, he is technically not wrong either. But the NBA also accommodates several international players as well. In fact, the last three league MVPs were all international players. Stars like Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are slowly taking over the league as the faces of the franchise.
