Noah Lyles fans revisit Kevin Durant and Co.'s retorts to his 'world champion' comments after Olympic gold - "Not a single brain cell was at use here"

American track and field superstar Noah Lyles secured a photo-finish gold medal victory during Sunday's 2024 Paris Olympic men's 100-meter final. Afterward, his fans revisited and defended his controversial "world champion" comments from last year.

Lyles finished Sunday's race with a personal-best time of 9.79 seconds, edging out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who finished only five-thousandths of a second behind. In doing so, he became the Americans' first gold medal winner in the event in 20 years.

After his victory, many remarked about Lyles narrowly escaping a potentially harsh online reception following last year's dig at the NBA.

Lyles also won gold medals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the men's 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay. However, the sprinter's impressive performances were partially overshadowed by his viral comments questioning the validity of NBA championship teams referring to themselves as "world champions."

Lyles noted that all 30 of the league's teams are U.S.-based, making the designation questionable.

"You know the thing that hurts me the most? I have to watch the NBA Finals, and they have 'world champion' on their heads," Lyles said. "World champion of what? The United States? We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving and putting on a flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA."

Lyles' comments garnered defensive reactions from several NBA stars, including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, and Draymond Green.

On Sunday, X/Twitter user @cIayboiprati recounted some of the top reactions, most notably Durant saying, "Somebody needs to help this brother." The fan added that "not a single brain cell was at use here."

More of Lyles' fans later chimed in, backing up last year's comments.

"Multimillionaires, and they got this heated over a factual statement," @ConnexxionBusi said.

"They were just showing their insecurities," @SeaManDoom said.

"Looking back, this was lowkey insecure AF," @_7Sonny said.

"Bunch of guys who couldn’t be the leader on a championship team," @tipsdune said.

"Crying after someone tells you the truth," @ribara999 said.

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Josh Hart gives Noah Lyles pass after Olympic gold medal victory

Among those who defended Noah Lyles after Sunday's gold medal win was New York Knicks wing Josh Hart.

X/Twitter user @adryanashton suggested that Lyles needed to continue his success during the men's 200-meter race to avoid NBA fan criticism. However, Hart noted that Lyles' first Olympic gold medal already earned him a pass for his "world champion" comments.

"Lol, nah, he's an Olympic gold medalist. He can talk for life," Hart said.

Lyles will compete in the men's 200-meter race beginning on Monday, with the event's semifinal and final scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

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