USA Basketball Team Appears to Criticize Noah Lyles on Social Media After Winning Gold Medal

After a hard-fought battle, the United States men’s national basketball team defeated France to win the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Despite that victory and outstanding performances from LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Steph Curry, USA Basketball appears to be focusing on the commentary of another 2023 Olympic gold medalist.

Following their victory, the U.S. basketball team shared a photo on social media showing the team standing together on the Olympic pedestal and asking a simple question: “Are we world champions yet?”

This is a reference to the comment that American Olympic runner Noah Lyles made to journalists at the 2023 World Championships in Athletics in Budapest after winning the gold medal in the men’s 200 meters.

“You know what hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have a ‘world champion,’” Lyles said. “World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the United States — sometimes — but that’s not the world.”

“We are the world. We have almost every country fighting, developing, putting up a flag to show they are represented. There are no flags in the NBA.”

Many NBA fans and players, including Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Devin Booker, who each won multiple gold medals at the Olympics, have harshly criticized Lyles.

While Lyles’ comment certainly raised a few feathers, he’s not wrong. Technically, you could argue that a team that wins the NBA Finals isn’t a “world champion,” because the National Basketball Association is exactly that: a national team. It only represents the United States.

However, given their dominance at the Olympic Games, where the USA has won five gold medals in a row, it is safe to say that the United States has the best basketball players in the world.

That said, if anyone can make that comment, it’s Noah Lyles. This year, Lyles won gold in the men’s 100m, narrowly beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. While both finished in 9.79, Lyles’ torso crossed the line first, making him the winner.

In addition, Lyles won a bronze medal in the men’s 200-meter dash after testing positive for COVID-19 two days before the race. He previously won a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Now, men’s basketball and Lyles are Olympic champions in their respective events. Hopefully, both sides can reconcile their differences and move on.

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