Last year, Noah Lyles sparked a controversy after he questioned the ‘world champion’ tag of NBA winners. This led to several basketball players later responding to Lyles, who stood by his comments. But the sprinter, who broke Michael Johnson’s 28-year-old record recently, has once again drawn attention after he took a dig at LeBron James. 

In a recent conversation with Raymond Parral, the prominence of the NBA league came up again in conversation. Referencing his comments about the NBA from last year, Parral said, “There is this quote by this, I don’t know which NBA player, but he said, ‘I’m closer to LeBron than the average Joe is to me.’ So my question is, is the gap wider between the average Joe and LeBron or the average Joe and you?”

Well, on one hand, you have a name, who holds the record for the most number of points in the NBA, with more than 40,000 points to his name. When you take into account that the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant have graced the league, that stands as some achievement. On the other hand, you have Noah Lyles has won six world titles. For Lyles the choice was easy.

“Well, I’m the third fastest man ever to live. So you are definitely closer to getting to LeBron than me,” Lyles confidently remarked. That fairly means that an ordinary person could come closer to LeBron James with minimal effort, but would require to invest more to be considered in the same league as Lyles.

But does Lyles picking himself over King James hold any weight? Lyles’ consistent top-notch performance in a sport, that has a different challenge and far more varied levels of opponents compared to the NBA, could be one reason. At the US Olympic trials, he ran the 200m in 19.53 to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics, breaking Michael Johnson’s 28-year-old record. In 2022, won the world title, in 19.31 seconds, which is his personal best and places him behind only Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt in the standings.

Going by this, Noah Lyles will feel that he has the upper hand over the Los Angeles Lakers power forward. Here’s a snippet of Noah Lyles’ achievements throughout the years in track sports: 

Compared to that, LeBron James has three Olympic medals in basketball, participating in the USA. However, his presence has mostly been felt in the NBA leagues, where he has four championship titles and numerous accolades being the MVP.

But Noah Lyles has raised a question about NBA titles being labeled as world championships. Last year, he ridiculed that tag by saying, “World champion of what? The United States?” The discussion followed as he further added, “That is not the world; There ain’t no flags in the NBA.” While he received backlash for his comment, he also found some support.

Noah Lyles found support after his NBA comments

After calling out the NBA for touting touted as a ‘world champion’, Noah Lyles had to face massive criticism. The three-time Olympic champion and Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, ridiculed Lyles by saying, “Somebody help this brother.”  Four-time NBA champion Draymond Green also got involved, writing on Instagram, “When being smart goes wrong” with the face-palm emoji.

However, Asafa Powell, the Jamaican athletic great, supported the American sprinter. 

On his podcast, Fast Lane Lifestyle Show, Asafa clarified that NBA champions are not world champions. “I mean they are the NBA champions (only).” Lyles’s fellow US sprinter, Sha’Carri Richardson also took his side and tweeted, “I’m standing with Noah on this one. The organization [NBA] have players from different countries but do they compete against different countries. You have to go against the world in order to be a world champion.”

Lyles also stood by his comments in the face of criticism and stated, “It’s a state championship. You know you are the Champion for that state.” Even though that controversy has died down, Lyles’s comments about LeBron James could stir the pot once again. One thing is for sure, the sprinter isn’t getting invited to the courtside in the NBA anytime soon.