“Shut Your Mouth”: NBA World Cancels Noah Lyles’ American Glory After Controversial Slant on Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Others

Six-time track and field world champion Noah Lyles is back in the news. The amazing athlete had just won the double sprint at the World Athletics Championships, an achievement that had eluded the American team for over a decade. However, his time in the limelight was short-lived, as his controversial slant against some of America’s top athletes brought him swift backlash.

Noah Lyles took a shot at the NBA players over the weekend and quickly found himself at the receiving end of a wave of criticism. Lyles criticized the NBA players for using the “world champions” title even though the league consists primarily of American teams. The NBA stars responded to Lyles’ remarks with funny retorts on social media that had everyone rolling on the floor with laughter.

NBA stars strike back with mockery

Adidas was one of Noah Lyles’ chief sponsors for the World Athletics Championships. The massive footwear brand posted a photo of the American ace on their official Instagram account with the caption, “3…2…1 Three golds Three stripes /// Only ONE @nojo18”. The company wanted to celebrate Noah Lyles’ dominance at the World Championships. But there was more hype surrounding the brewing controversy between the sprinter and some of the best basketball players. Several players from the NBA have weighed in on the matter and strongly disagreed with Noah Lyles’ stance. The funny jabs started with Kevin Durant suggesting that Lyles had lost his marbles and needed help. His teammate Devin Booker said it all with a face-palming emoji.

Non-American players in the NBA have pointed out how the league represents basketball players from all over the world. The primary voice of protest from the foreign players came from Golden State Warriors star forward Juan Toscano-Anderson. He said, “Last time I checked, the NBA was the best competition in the WORLD”. Other American basketball players have also vehemently protested Lyles’ remarks. Aaron Gordon also issued him an open challenge for a 200m race. NBA champion Udonis Haslem has always had a high opinion of Noah Lyles and could not believe that he would make such a disrespectful comment towards another sport. The league fans were also not going to let Lyles’ comment slide without a response.

NBA supporters react to Noah Lyles’ controversial remarks

The NBA fans have flooded the tribute post from Adidas on Instagram with their disapproval of Lyles’ comments. One fan asked him to stay in his own sport and not speak about others, stating, “Maybe learn to shut your mouth and just talk about running”. Another fan explained the validity of the NBA’s claim to the world champions title with a passionate comment that stated, “The nba is where the best players in the world play. They are world champions. It’s totally different than your sport and wrestling. There’s no nba in wrestling, no nba in track. Same applies to the MLB. “World Series”, same applies to the NFL. The best players in the world play in those leagues, and I’m sorry track isn’t as popular to have such as league”.

Another fan almost accused Lyles of treason and said he had lost their support, saying, “Not rooting for him no more hating on Americans and the NBA like they don’t have the best players from every country lost ass boy”. Next, one fan wrongly mentioned Noah Lyles’s lack of achievements to discredit him, stating, “bro has no accomplishments in life btw”. Another commenter quickly corrected them saying, “what have u accomplished he is doing great 3 gold medals for Team USA he still representing lol freedom of speech”. Lastly, one fan mentioned the prowess of the American teams in basketball, stating, “They (NBA final champions) would beat any other basketball championship team in any other basketball league in the world”.

Read More: Maintaining Silence Over Noah Lyles’ Bitter NBA Rant, Magic Johnson Takes The High Road At World Athletic Championship

This backlash from the basketball community has somewhat overshadowed Noah Lyles’ recent achievements. The 26-year-old world champion in track and field will need to win over the angry fans if he wants his latest venture in making documentary films to be successful.

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