Track Star Noah Lyles Backs NBA ‘World Champions’ Dig Following Team USA FIBA Exit; Disses Drake Over Statement

Drake and several NBA players recently criticized Noah Lyles for claiming that winning a domestic championship doesn’t hold the same weight as a world title. However, Lyles has backed up his statement with evidence proving his worth as an Olympian, thus nullifying the unwarranted shots fired at him.

On Sunday, September 10, the six-time world champion talked with TMZ about his recent victories on the international stage. While discussing, he also reflected on his controversial statement that resulted in Team USA’s disqualification from the FIBA World Cup. He says he still stands by his earlier comments despite the outcome.

“I do think that the point was lost,”. “At the end of the day, it was talking about how I see what we do to our national championships — I just want the same thing for our world champions. And we’re a sport where we’re bringing in the most medals every year, and it’s like nobody even knows because they don’t pay attention.”

Lyles was unfazed when it came to Drake, who has never played any professional sport. He simply told him to “go home.”

It was a rather interesting turn of events when the United States suffered a loss in a tournament, which only strengthened the argument of the Olympian. The situation was more ironic because the team responsible for eliminating the USA and preventing them from winning a medal was none other than Drake’s home country of Canada. Recently, Drake was one of several NBA celebrities who disapproved of Lyles’ comments about being world champions. This move was criticized, as it was pointed out that only the United States and Canada are represented in the North American league. At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the 26-year-old track star shared his perspective:

“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? Don’t get me wrong, I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world … There ain’t no flags in the NBA.”

The rapper Drake, an ambassador of the Toronto Raptors, became aware of some of the comments by Lyles about his NBA friends and quickly came to their defense. Drake responded to an Akademiks post that shared Lyles’ remarks with a series of laughing emojis.

“He thought this speech was gonna be so hard in the mirror the night before… now the whole league doesn’t rate u,”

Other NBA officials expressed their disgust with Noah Lyles’ remarks. Kevin Durant wrote, “Someone, please help this man.” Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon replied, “Whatever, I’m smoking you, buddy, in the 200m.” Superstars Devin Booker and Damian Lillard were equally stunned.

“Is someone going to tell him?” Heat centre Bam Adebayo asked with a laugh. Austin Rivers has expressed his opinion that winning an NBA championship can rightfully earn the title of world champion. He has also questioned whether the delivery and tone of Giannis’ comment were more cringe-worthy than the comment itself.