The U.S. men’s national basketball team won its fifth consecutive gold medal, and one of the first things on USA Basketball’s mind seemed to be a counterattack on earlier comments made by sprinter Noah Lyles.
The 100-meter gold medalist said a year ago that being an NBA champion does not mean being a “world champion.”
And Team USA, in a post from its official account on X, made sure to call itself “world champions” after knocking off France for the Olympic gold medal on Saturday — even though Lyles’ original point, while made without much consideration, wasn’t technically wrong.
“I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have world champions on their heads,” Lyles said last August, according to the Daily Mail. “World champions of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the USA sometimes. But that’s not the world.”
“We are the world. We have almost every country fighting and thriving and flying a flag to show that they are represented. There are no flags in the NBA,” he added.
The US national team won the 2010 and 2014 FIBA World Championships, but finished only seventh in 2019 and, as clear favorites, only finished fourth in 2023.
In an interview with AP, Lyles was asked about his previous comments after the men’s basketball team won gold.
“It’s not a question of whether I consider it or not,” Lyles said when asked if the U.S. team’s players could win the world title. “It’s a question of…they are. They’re Olympic champions, and the Olympic champions are where you meet the whole world.”
“And they saw how difficult it is,” Lyles added. “And of course they pushed through, and of course I knew they would make it. Because we have some of the best athletes, but they saw that you can’t just throw everyone together and say, ‘This is a great team.’ You know, there were a lot of countries out there that said, ‘Hey, we’re not giving up just because we’re not in the NBA. We have a good bond. We have our own way of playing the game.’ And there were a lot of close calls. But I’m confident, like myself, that the U.S. basketball team would make it to the top.”
Lyles led what was known as be She competed in the 200-meter event and finished third on Friday despite suffering from COVID-19 and a fever of 39 degrees, just days after dramatically winning gold in the 100 meters.
This doesn’t seem to be Lyles’ only criticism of the recognition given to NBA players compared to track and field athletes.
On Sunday, a TIME article about Lyles from late June circulated that included an anecdote about tension with shoe sponsor Adidas over an invitation to a sneaker event for Minnesota Timberwolves star and Team USA guard Anthony Edwards.
Adidas had negotiated a contract extension with Lyles last year and invited him to the release of Edwards’ shoes.
Lyles didn’t seem pleased.
“What are you going to do?” Lyles told TIME. “You’re going to invite me to an event for a guy who hasn’t even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe? No offense: The guy is an incredible athlete. He’s having a hell of a year. I love that they had the insight to give him a shoe because they saw he was going to be big. I’m like, ‘How could you not see that in me?'”
TIME notes that Adidas declined to comment and signed a new contract with Lyles, which Adidas says is the most lucrative track and field contract in the post-Usain Bolt era.
