Noah Lyles opens up about the backlash he faced from the NBA legends and fans over his 'World champions of what?' comment

Noah Lyles won three golds in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay at the 2023 World Championships but his post-event celebration turned nightmarish when NBA legends snapped back at him for sparking controversy with his comments. However, months after that incident, Lyles finds the feud funny.

The 26-year-old achieved the sprint treble as only the second male athlete after Usain Bolt. Coming into 2024, a couple of 100m and 60m wins solidified his position as a Paris Olympic contender.

However, NBA legends were unhappy with Lyles after he took a jab at them. In a post-race interview in Budapest last year, as posted by Bleacher Report, the three-peat star called out the NBA for crowning the league winner as 'world champions,' when the track and field domain is bringing the most medals to the US on the global stage.

Lyles had said:

“World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the US, at times, but that ain’t the world. We are the world (athletes at the World Athletics Championships). We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.”

This infuriated a few NBA legends like Devin Brooker, Kevin Durant, and Damian Lillard. Commenting, "Now the whole league doesn't rate u," Canadian singer, rapper, and actor Drake chimed in to back the NBA.

After going back and forth, the incident subsided but resurfaced during a recent interview with Dazed, featuring Noah Lyles. Shedding light on the event, the six-time World champion still thinks it was funny after he was bombarded with backlash while celebrating in a nightclub.

"I thought it was funny!" said Lyles.

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"Just go home buddy" - Noah Lyles to Drake

After a month of the NBA backlash, Noah Lyles went candid in an interview with TMZ Sports. The 200m world champion shared his take on the incident and how Drake commented in support of the NBA. He unabashedly asked the rapper to go home, standing strong with his 'world champion' claim.

"It's like Kevin Durant's talking and I'm just like Kevin Durant's always talking like what are they even mad about I'm like oh that's interesting they decided to listen and then all of a sudden Drake over here saying stuff, I'm like, 'Just go home buddy, go home.'"

Noah Lyles' back-to-back wins in the 100m promises to secure him a position at the US track and field Olympic trials, starting June 21.