“He who laughs last will laugh best”… For having said out loud what many have been thinking quietly for years, Noah Lyles suffered a torrent of criticism from NBA stars like Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and even Tyrese Haliburton. Initially, the three-time world athletics champion attacked the term “world champions” that we attach to NBA champions.
“What bothers me the most is watching the Finals and seeing [que les champions NBA] have ‘world champion’ written on their heads. But ‘world champion’ of what? The United States ? “, the new king of world sprinting had quipped. “Don’t get me wrong, I love America sometimes, but it’s not the whole world. We [les Championnats du monde, ndlr] are the world, here there is almost every country, which fights, gives its all, displays its flag. There are no flags in the NBA. »
“There were a lot of air balls”
Two weeks after this outing, the United States will play the match for 3rd place, and they will not be world champions. The opportunity for GQ to question Lyles about the harsh attacks he suffered.
“There were a lot of air balls” he said. “It’s just a situation where they finally decided to listen.” I’ve been saying this for years. In fact, the whole world has been saying it for years. This is only the first time that they have paid attention to it and given their opinion. »
What amused Lyles was the solidarity between NBA players, who even received support from… Drake.
“There are a lot of funny things that come from it, like the fact that Drake noticed it. Like, Drake, what are you doing here? Go home ! It’s an NBA conversation! » Lyles balances. “But I couldn’t stay on TikTok for more than three seconds because everyone only saw me. And I was like, “Can I see anything else?” » I don’t want to see myself. I’m going to Twitter to see something else. To be honest, I really think the NBA is the best league. I never doubted it. But there is a level of misunderstanding on both sides of the sport. There is the national side and the global side, and you cannot have a world champion title without facing the rest of the world. »
