“I Wanted to Be an NBA Player”: 17 Days After Getting Backlash from Kevin Durant and Others, Noah Lyles Makes a Surprising Admission

Noah Lyles has been making headlines for some time now ever since he questioned calling the NBA champions, ‘World champions’. An admittedly hilarious rant from Lyles on the matter left the NBA community divided, making him a rather controversial figure on X (formerly Twitter) at the moment. Now, approximately 17 days after he received a ton of backlash from different circles, Lyles may have just added to the noise, with his recent admission of wanting to be an NBA player.

Many reacted negatively to Noah Lyles’ statement, including current NBA players. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker were among those who publicly shook their head at the statement. “Somebody help this brother,” Durant wrote in an Instagram comment Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Tyler Hero posted the following on X.

With these statements still in the fore, Lyles’ recent statement admittedly comes as a massive shock to many in the NBA community.

Noah Lyles admits his initial dream was to make it to the NBA

Due to the statement he made, many now perceive 26-year-old Noah Lyles to be someone who isn’t fond of the NBA in any capacity. However, as he revealed recently, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The following is what Lyles said:

“I wanted to be an NBA player when I was a kid. I definitely did. It was my first love for sure as a sport. But then there came that point where I was working harder than everybody else and nobody really wanted to have the ambition or the goal of getting higher. And I said, you know what? I can’t do this anymore. I’m done with team sports. Let me go give this track a try.”

Admittedly, it is hard to blame Noah Lyles for switching sports. After all, the event in question must have been much harsher than he lets on to be known in his statement, if it caused him to switch dreams. However, fortunately for the six-time world champion, it has likely turned out to be the right choice.

Even Giannis Antetokounmpo seems to be on Lyles’ side

Giannis Antetokounmpo was recently asked to speak on Noah Lyles’ initial statement. Despite being an NBA champion himself, he admitted to being in vehement agreement with the track athlete’s statement. The following is what he said.

“I wanted to back him up so bad. He received so much backlash for saying the obvious. I think some people don’t understand it. Maybe it’s an arrogance thing.”

There is little doubt Noah appreciated Giannis’ stance on his statement.