American professional sprinter Noah Lyles is hot in the news for his comments on the NBA Finals. Lyles questioned the legitimacy of calling the NBA title winners ‘World Champions’, despite not having any other countries participate. This lackluster comment earned a lot of flak from top NBA stars, including Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant. And a day after the NBA stars lashed out, Canadian hip-hop star Drake also jumped onto the bandwagon in ridiculing Lyles for his comments.
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Several American leagues call the winning teams World Champions, including the MLB and the NBA. While there is a certain logic behind the winning teams being called ‘World Champions,’ the sprinter’s comment has started a new conflict within the basketball community against the track and field star.
Drake joins the bandwagon of ridiculing Noah Lyles
Noah Lyles recently made a significant achievement after winning the gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championship’s 200-meter race. Though this achievement is a notable feat for the sprinter, his comments about the NBA might have changed all perceptions about him. Here is what Lyles said regarding the NBA Finals.
“I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have World Champion on their head. World Champion of what? The United States?”
https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1695979421726093434?s=20
The statement has attracted a lot of flak from the NBA community, including players such as Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Draymond Green, and Devin Booker. However, it was unexpected for Drake to jump into this conversation and put his take. In the comments section, Drake wrote:
“He thought this speech was gonna be so hard in the mirror the night before… now the whole league doesn’t rate u.”
https://twitter.com/Rap/status/1696163309882351946?s=20
Though the terminology of using World Champions is debatable, this has caused enough chaos in the NBA world. Perhaps, Lyles might be rethinking his comment after receiving such heavy ridicule from the basketball fraternity. However, this is not the first time such claims have risen.
Gregg Popovich had a similar issue with the ‘World Champions’ terminology
Noah Lyles was not the only one to question the ‘World Champions’ terminology. In 2010, Hall of Famer coach Gregg Popovich also tried putting forward how the ‘World Champions’ terminology was wrong to apply in the context of NBA champions.
Perhaps, this topic will forever remain a matter of debate, while there are several reasons for both Lyles and Popovich to be correct. However, this term has adapted as a cultural token within American society, which is hard to detach from.
