Amid Noah Lyles controversy, Gregg Popovich's 2010 quote about NBA 'world champions' resurfaces: "It doesn't make sense for an NBA team"

Amid the backlash Noah Lyles received for criticizing NBA champions as World Champions from Kevin Durant, Drake and others, Gregg Popovich's views on the world champion tag have resurfaced.

Lyles' said this in an interview recently, which did the rounds on social media and drew plenty of criticism:

"You know the thing that really 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?" Lyles questioned.

Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, a well-respected figure around the league, seems to have brought the debate to light 13 years ago when he said:

"There are no world champions in the NBA, so anybody that has the flag up that says world champions is not correct. It’s not appropriate. The world champions, I believe, are the Spanish team right now. USA is the Olympic champion. The Lakers are the NBA champion.

"It doesn’t make sense for an NBA team to call themselves world champions. I don’t remember anybody playing anybody outside our borders to get that tag. Isn’t that true? I keep waiting for somebody to tell me I’ve missed something.

Popovich and Lyles both make sense from a literal standpoint. The 'world champion' tag is generally used during international events. However, the NBA is the only national league to use that tag. So why is that the case? The NBA uses it because it boasts the world's top players.

The team winning the finals is also labeled as a world champion because the team that wins the season in the best league on the planet will automatically become the best in the world.

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Gregg Popovich and Noah Lyles faced different fates for their passionate rants on the 'world champion' label in the NBA

Being a respectful figure in the NBA, Gregg Popovich escaped the flak that Noah Lyles got for the same debate the two presented. From die-hard NBA fan Drake to Phoenix Suns All-Star Kevin Durant, many public figures called the sprinter out for his comments.

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

Meanwhile, Durant, with other NBA players, mercilessly trolled Lyles on Instagram. Durant wrote:

"Somebody help this brother"

Kevin Durant and other NBA players mock Noah Lyles

The NBA community and players show tremendous respect for the norms of the league and its history. Gregg Popovich had a standing and entitlement as a key figure to put his opinions forward. However, the NBA community doesn't view Lyles in the same light.

Whether it was right or wrong is up for debate, but a more subtle approach could've seen healthy discussions following instead of the criticism Noah Lyles drew.