With his staunch performances in the 2023 season, Noah Lyles became a dominant force in the track and field realm. After taking home victory in the World Athletics Championships and the Zurich Diamond League, the 26-year-old is now looking forward to the Eugene Diamond League. However, amid all these accolades and recognition, he also garnered scrutiny for his “World Champion of What?” comment on the NBA.

Following his ‘World Champion’ comment, Lyles was called out by the NBA fandom and some elite players, including Kevin Durant. Nevertheless, Canadian rapper Drake also joined forces with the NBA stars and shared his perspective on the same. However, Lyles didn’t shy away from standing by his statement.

In fact, during an interview with GQ Sports, he directly addressed Drake, suggesting that this NBA discussion was something he should leave to others and “go back home.” After this, he again appeared on a podcast recently, where he mocked the “God’s Plan” rapper.

Noah Lyles pulled off the curtains from the aftermath

On 13th September, Lyles sat down for an interview with former American football wide receiver Brandon Marshall on I AM ATHLETE podcast. He discussed his career and shared various nooks and crannies of his training sessions. As the interview advanced, the duo discussed Lyles’ NBA controversy and whether he was expecting the reactions from the NBA players or not.

To this, Lyles replied that he wasn’t expecting this reaction, as he has already made such statements in the past and no one has paid attention to them. He later talked about how he got to know about this when he was celebrating his world championship on the last day and his friends notified him about the incident. He added, “KD is talking, and then you got few others, and then Drake [laughs] whose mess is this [laughs again].” 

He then added that he got to know that the people “actually heard something.” He further added, “of course, it’s not the part that I wished they heard but it set up a situation where our conversation could be heard.“

He mentioned people like Steven A. Smith, who called Lyles “blatantly ignorant” and expressed his harsh opinions. Lyles reiterated the fact that the United States is giving the world championship tag just because the rest of the world is not playing basketball.

Lyles breaks down the importance of the world champion tag

Lyles added that he is not saying that the nation is not the greatest at basketball, as the country has some of the best players in the world. But he thinks that they cannot call themselves world champions without facing the world. “how the world sees world championships and how the US is very easily giving out world championships just because the rest of the world doesn’t play the sport that we’re playing,” added Lyles

He was then asked a question by Marshall: If the NBA is the greatest league and has the greatest players, then why wouldn’t they be the world champions?

To this, Noah Lyles gives an example and says that if there is a competition for the best in the universe and only earthlings participate and nobody else knows that the competition is happening on earth, can this be the best in the universe?

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Now the American sensation is gearing up to perform at the Diamond League Finals this week in Eugene. While his “World Champion of What?” comment sparked controversy, Lyles hasn’t wavered in defending his perspective. His unwavering stance challenges the idea of calling oneself a “world champion” without truly facing the world in competition.

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