“World champion of what? The United States?”, the words still echo in our ears. And we’re guessing in the ears of NBA superstars too. Noah Lyles created quite a controversy when he said these things last year. He pulled off the statement after a gold-medal-winning performance at the World Athletics Championship. His cause for saying this?

Why are league winners, based entirely out of the US (well, almost) seen as “world champions”?

In a way, he’s right. But then, when we look at the countries, some of the top NBA players come from – not from America. Serbia, France, Greece, you will get an NBA player from almost everywhere around the world. Of course, the legends had something to add here.

Then, Kevin Durant was one of the legends who spoke against this controversial statement. He said, “Somebody help this brother”. But almost a year later, he’s put these comments to rest. He understands you cannot compare NBA championships to Olympic championships.

Now his divine intervention comes in the form of an interview Durant did with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. Spears asked him to take a pick between an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal, Durant made his choice clear: “You don’t compare them. It’s two different things. It’s two different mountains you got to climb… high peaks in both of them. So obviously, in our world, an NBA championship is more respected. But in some parts of the world, the Olympic level is more respected.” 

The superstar on national duty in Paris didn’t just stop there. And even though he wasn’t directly taking a dig at Lyles, he most certainly put a final stop to that controversy. “So many people actually want to move to the United States, so we’re very respected around the world. Also very hated, too. But for the most part, we just try to go out there and represent your country and where you come from to the best of your abilities and your family.”

As part of a team holding 16 gold medals at various Olympic appearances, Durant has nothing but hope to get yet another one to prove the world wrong. “I value both because winning is important. So, I love my USA Basketball family and we will see if we can go get another one.”

Did Kevin Durant actually end the debate?

This is up for debate! Because KD certainly wasn’t directly addressing the statements to Lyles but what we do know is that it was not just KD but many other notable NBA stars who stood up against Noah Lyles at the time. Including them all was the Lakers’ superstar, Anthony Davis.

Notably, Anthony Davis recently dropped his take on the controversy. He said, “The best players in the world you go to the NBA … to prove that you’re one of the best players in the world… That’s why it’s called world champions…We don’t only have US-born players. It can be from anywhere in the world.” 

Even Draymond Green came around to defend the NBA fraternity by taking to Instagram and writing: “When being smart goes wrong” with the face-palm emoji.

Funny enough, Nuggets’ star, Aaron Gordon, did not refrain from sharing his thoughts on IG, saying, “Whatever … I’m smoking buddy in the 200m.”

Importantly, the six-time world champion (read the 6 again!) Noah Lyles can again stir up the controversy again. The 27-year-old sprinter won the Bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics and will look to scale up a bit in the Paris Olympics. So Lyles will again have the global attention on him and he could make another controversial statement.

Before you go, do not forget to check out Essentially Sports’ latest exclusive, featuring bg12 x Silas Demary Jr. Keep checking this space for more such updates.