Track Star Faces NBA Backlash After ‘World Champs’ Diss
Some of the best players in the NBA are taking umbrage with track star Noah Lyles’ incendiary “world champions” diss.
After completing a triple win at the world championship games in Budapest—making him the first person since Usain Bolt to do so—Lyles took the opportunity to air some grievances. "You know what hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head. World champion of what? The United States?" Lyles opined.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the U.S., at times, but that ain't the world. That is not 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 concluded.
Some of the biggest stars in the game turned up in the comments to grill Lyles. "Somebody help this brother," Kevin Durant sounded off. Devin Booker simply left a face-palm emoji.
Four-time NBA world champ Draymond Green said of Lyles: "When being smart goes wrong.”
Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and other NBA players respond to Noah Lyles' comments. pic.twitter.com/O1eApkNpFG
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 28, 2023
Even Charlamagne Tha God and Drake saw fit to weigh in on the controversy. The former noted that while Lyles is technically correct—NBA games are definitely played in North America—the organization drafts the best players from all over the world to compete.
Drake didn’t hide his enjoyment of Lyles’ words. In a comment on a post by DJ Akademiks, the “One Dance” artist remarked: "[Lyles] thought this speech was gonna be so hard in the mirror the night before...now the whole league doesn't rate u.” Alongside the message were a slew of uncontrollable-laughter emojis.
Lyles has yet to respond to the furor he unleashed. His documentary series, Untitled: The Noah Lyles Project, is currently streaming on Peacock.