Olympian Takes Jab at NBA Champions
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In what may have been the most unexpected beef ever, American track and field sprinter Noah Lyles took a jab at the NBA and all of its world champions.
After winning the 100-200 sprint double at the World Championships in Hungary, Lyles took a shot at the NBA and how its champions call themselves world champions.
"I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have world champion on their heads," Lyles said. "World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world."
Lyles' statement is an incredibly uninformed one. All of the best basketball players in the world play in the NBA, it's not a league dominated by Americans anymore. The best Greek player Giannis Antetokounmpo is in the league, the best Serbian player Nikola Jokic is in the league, and the best Cameroonian player Joel Embiid is in the league. These are all names that would be the best players on their respective Olympic teams. An NBA team is already a combination of every best player in the world on one 15-man roster, so that's why Lyles' statement is fundamentally very wrong.
Lyles' remarks are one that NBA players likely won't take kindly to. It'll become the talk of the town among players and they won't appreciate being disrespected in that way. What comes next will certainly be interesting.
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