Noah Lyles’ dissing NBA teams for calling themselves world champions after winning the title earned the ire of fans, analysts, and current and former players alike. He has since been the number one enemy among those in the basketball fraternity who believe that the team that hoists the Larry O’Brien Trophy has the right to call themselves world champions.
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Gilbert Arenas even claimed that his infamous, “World Champion of what?” jibe incensed people enough to root against him in the Paris Olympics. In a discussion on the Gil’s Arena podcast. Brandon Jennings claimed that despite everyone despising Lyles, his brand wouldn’t take a hit and fans will root for him when he competes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
But Arenas disagreed and said that it’ll be difficult for Lyles to bounce back from it because as an individual, no one is fond of him which will be a difficult hurdle for him to cross. The three-time All-Star said the track star’s unprovoked jibe at NBA teams has put him in the fans’ crosshairs. He said,
“In USA, the only person we didn’t like in the last 30 something years, that was representing us…Like, man I hope he lose so we can rub it in his face. We’ve never ever heard nobody talk about any other athlete like that.”
Arenas noted that despite Lyles representing the US at the Paris Olympics, many Americans celebrated when he finished third in the 200-meter final. Despite the NBA fraternity rooting against him, the 27-year-old sprinter claimed he wholeheartedly backed Team USA to win gold in Paris.
Noah Lyles knew Team USA would win gold
Following the US Men’s Basketball Team’s win in the gold medal game against France, the Olympic 100-meter champion was asked about his opinion on their victory. Lyles claimed he was confident they’d win and was ecstatic about it. He said,
“They’re Olympic champions and in the Olympic champions, you face the whole world…And of course they came out on top and of course I knew they would… They saw you can’t just slap everybody together and say, ‘This is a great team.'”
The sprinter’s comments will do little to soothe NBA fans who have turned on him. Those hoping to see him fail won’t change their stance unless he apologizes for his comments. However, the 27-year-old track star likely won’t issue a retraction anytime soon.
