Noah Lyles puts out the fire and ends the brewing rumor. Recently, the NBA world went haywire, accusing the Olympian of voluntarily missing out on Anthony Edwards‘ Adidas shoe launch event last year, and also accused him of stating that Edwards didn’t deserve it. Notably, the athlete recently took a dig at the baller over his latest signature line. While Lyles made himself clear with a tweet, he further reached out to Shannon Sharpe for help.

In the latest episode of Nightcap, Lyles joined the show and made himself clear once again. Speaking of the rumor, he said, “Them offering me to go to Ant’s shoe release had nothing to do with the contract. They just thought it would be cool that I would show up as one of their Adidas athletes. Unfortunately, they asked for it very late.” Lyles further clarified that he didn’t have time to attend the event since he had already committed to an engagement in Milan for Hugo Boss. Notably, Lyles shared the same via his X handle a few days ago.

However, the controversy began only after Noah Lyles took a dig at Anthony Edwards and his Adidas shoe deal in a Time article. Speaking of that, he said, “I will say, being very vulnerable in this moment, I felt very unheard at that moment with Adidas. I felt very unheard. What do you do when you feel unheard? You try to shout louder… Unfortunately, that was one of my moments where I had to shout to even get them to look my way.”

Just like the Minnesota Timberwolves star, Noah Lyles has had a successful run with Adidas. Earlier this year, the sprinter signed an extension with the company, which is reportedly the most expansive contract signed by a track and field athlete since Usain Bolt. At the same time, Ant-Man launched his shoe line with Adidas. And, this seems to have affected the sprinter.

What did Noah Lyles say about Anthony Edwards in the Time interview?

Last year, around the time when Anthony Edwards launched his signature shoe line, AE1, Noah Lyles was working on his contract extension with Adidas. And, the company even invited the sprinter for the shoe launch. Speaking of that, ahead of the Paris Olympics, Lyles said, “You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe?” in an interview with Time. 

However, Lyles clarified his stance on Edwards’ ability as he said, ” No disrespect — the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe because they saw that he was going to be big.” Following that, he again demanded a sneaker deal, saying, “I want my own shoe… I want my own trainer. I’m dead serious. I want a sneaker, ain’t no money in [track] spikes.”

While Noah Lyles clarified that he didn’t miss the event voluntarily, the star’s statement ahead of the Paris Olympics partly contradicts it. What do you make of it? Let us know in the comments.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.