Noah Lyles made headlines yesterday after the 27-year-old secured a photo-finish win in the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s 100-meter final. The Gainesville, Florida native, stole gold from under Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson’s nose, dipping five one-thousandths of a second ahead. However, that’s not what caught heavyweight champion Claressa Shields’ eye today! 

Instead, as the entire country is celebrating another gold medal, a clip from August 2023 of Lyles has surfaced online. What’s this clip about? Well, hold on to your hats because this one gets a little spicy. See, the thing is, after Lyles won the 100-meter final at the World Championships in Budapest last year, he sat down for a news conference and made some comments about NBA champions being called world champions. 

Claressa Shields brands Noah Lyles’ statement “forever funny”

So, what did Lyles say exactly? Speaking to a horde of reporters, Noah took offense, and went as far as to say, “it hurts me”, that NBA players are called world champions even though the league isn’t international. He questioned, “World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the US, at times, but that ain’t the world”.

He further emphasized that the NBA isn’t the world, instead, the world was in the World Championships in Budapest, where nearly every country on the planet is “fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented”. Whereas, the NBA, while quite big in America, doesn’t even have a flag! 

So, with all the chatter about Lyles’ gold medal lately, the clip was all over X, and that’s where Shields had discovered it again. Shields quickly responded to the clip with a line, writing, “This interview [is] forever funny”. However, Shields wasn’t the only one who reacted to the comments! Quickly, a Phoenix Suns player shared his thoughts on the matter! 

Devin Booker doesn’t agree

Like Lyles, Devin Booker is in Paris representing the USA on the Olympic basketball team, who has reached the quarterfinals and will play against Brazil tomorrow. Regardless, after the clip of Lyles initially went viral in 2023, Booker reacted to it with a face-palm emoji, showing his disagreement. And his view hasn’t changed yet!

The four time NBA All-Star told The Athletic, “I still don’t agree with the comment. I feel like all the best talent in the world is in the NBA, and this is coming from an Olympic gold medalist (who believes) that being an NBA champion is probably harder to do”. Even so, Booker suggested his support for his fellow countryman outweigh the comments made in the past. 

It hasn’t even been a week since Noah Lyles struck gold in the Olympics, and his past statements are going viral on social media. It’s safe to say that you will be hearing more about the 27-year-old going forward. But the question is—do you agree with Lyles? Should NBA champions be called world champions?