Noah Lyles reflects on backlash he received for NBA ‘world champions’ comment

Noah Lyles, who won three gold medals at last year’s world championships, retained the title of world champion.

He went on to suggest that NBA players have no right to call themselves world champions just because they win the NBA Finals.

“I have to watch the NBA Finals, and there’s a world champion in my head. What world champion?” Lyles said at the time. “America? Don’t get me wrong. I love America sometimes, but it’s not the world. It’s not the world.

“We are the world. Almost every country here flies a flag to fight, to prosper, to show that they are represented. There are no flags in the NBA. We have to do more. I have to introduce it to you.”

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Almost immediately, NBA players applauded back. Kevin Durant said “somebody” needs to “help this brother out,” and Utah Jazz forward Juan Toscano-Anderson said, “The NBA was the greatest tournament in the world.”

While there were some supporters of Lyles, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and CJ McCollum, there was a lot of opposition.

“When I first saw this comment, I was at the club celebrating three gold medals. As I was about to go out, my phone suddenly exploded and my son said, ‘I told KD to shut up. I was like, ‘I have to say it,”’ Lyles said in a recent interview with Fox News.

“I’m looking at my phone like, ‘What are you talking about?'” “I wake up the next day and I’m still talking about it. I go into the night and see Drake talking about it. I don’t know what Drake is doing here, but I thought, ‘Wow, this is something going on.’

U.S. gold medalist Noah Lyles reacts after winning the men’s 100m final at the 2023 World Athletics Championships Budapest at the National Athletics Stadium in Budapest, Hungary on August 20, 2023. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

U.S. track and field athlete Noah Lyles says it’s ‘bittersweet’ to represent his country in the Olympics

Lyles said Stephen A. Smith called him an “idiot” and apologized. He also said he feels most of the backlash is coming from within the United States.

“This is America versus the world. Anyone who has lived in the United States or is outside the United States agrees with my comments. Most Americans don’t think so,” he says.

Lyles said she was surprised by the backlash she received, “mainly because I’ve said that comment so many times.”

“That was the time we really got some traction, but that wasn’t really the goal,” he said. “The question was, how does this sport look at us in America and how does that feel? So, it sucks to talk about it, all that stuff. Then all of a sudden… , the example will be the main one.”

Noah Lyles of the United States celebrates leading his team to gold in the men’s 4×100 meter relay final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, August 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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McCallum’s verdict was that the Olympics were “without question a ‘world championship'”. 100%. That’s true in any country. ”

Lyles will compete in his fourth World Championship this summer in Paris.

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