“You know what hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head. World champion of what? The United States?” These were the words that thrust U.S. track and field icon Noah Lyles into the center of massive controversy. Lyles’s comments stirred up a massive storm involving the NBA and track and field community. However, among the countless fans and experts who responded, Stephen A. Smith’s response stood out to Lyles.

The 26-year-old Olympian appeared on the Track World News podcast on July 15th. During the conversation, host Colin Waitzman reminded Noah Lyles about last year’s controversy and how Smith apologized after his initial response. While the Paris-bound sprinter didn’t comment at the time, he finally addressed Smith’s apology during the podcast.

“I respect that he came and apologized, to be honest,” said the 2023 world champion. “I mean he’s he’s an American commentator. He thinks in the American sense so I didn’t expect much,” Noah Lyles explained during the podcast. Lyles continued saying he understood why Stephen A. Smith lashed out initially saying 1/3rd of NBA players come from 40 different countries.

However, the current world’s fastest man across 200m also said he respected Smith’s openness to critique. When the television personality’s friend Boris Kodjoe explained why Smith was wrong to say that Noah Lyles was incorrect, he listened. More importantly, the 56-year-old saw the perspective that Kodjoe presented and understood his mistake.

“It takes a lot, it takes a big man to be able to do that on national TV,” Lyles said during the podcast. However, while the Olympic bronze medalist respected Stephen A. Smith’s apology, he also revealed how many NBA players agreed with his viewpoint.

Some developments surrounding the controversy surprised Noah Lyles

While speaking to the host, the US Olympic Trails winner explained how he expected the backlash. Lyles recalled how a fan said that commenting about the NBA would give Lyles his “15 minutes of fame,” and then he would disappear from the news. While the track icon brushed off such ignorant comments, he didn’t expect the response he got from multiple international NBA players.

Podcast guest and basketball player Noah Williams inquired if any of the NBA players agreed with his views. “Yeah! Any NBA player that’s not American,” he responded to Williams’ surprise. It seems the basketballer didn’t think even players outside of America would disagree with Lyles’s opinion. Another development that surprised Lyles about the whole incident was how viral it became because the 26-year-old admitted to saying this for years before the August 2023 controversy.

While many in the sports community may not agree with Lyles, the reasoned responses from figures like Stephen A. Smith and active NBA players have further emboldened the Olympian’s opinion.