Carmelo Anthony recently addressed U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles’ ongoing criticisms of the NBA, offering some pointed advice during his “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast. Lyles had previously sparked controversy by questioning the validity of NBA players calling themselves “world champions” after winning the domestic league, a comment that went viral and continued to stir debate, especially after Lyles’ success at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“You’re not a world champ until you win the World Cup, or World Championship. The reason why we call ourselves world champions over here is because it’s our game. The world comes to us to get the game. So yes, we are the world champs to everybody. Now, I do understand from that side. Semantics, I understand.”
“My thing is, why do you keep shooting at the NBA? Don’t keep shooting at the NBA. If you want to shoot, shoot at the fact y’all ain’t got a league for y’all own. You know what I’m saying? Shoot at that. Shoot at why they ain’t pouring money into that sport, which they should be”
“You want to be the world champion, you want to be the Olympic gold medalist? Fine. We support you 1000%, but don’t be comparing none of that other s**t to what we have going on over here, because it’s incomparable. You can’t compare it.”
“I’d rather you be like, ‘Yo, we need more attention, US Track and Field Association, whatever it is, we need more attention, we need more resources, we need to figure out how we can monetize this sport, how we can bring our own leagues to this sport, how we can own our own ownership, TV rights, business. That’s what the f**k you’re supposed to be worried about.”
“Don’t be whining about some NBA n**as. That’s what we do! We the world champs! I’ve never won a World Championship, I’ve never won the NBA championship, but what I’m saying is, don’t keep playing those games because what’s going to end up happening is all these people are gonna start turning on you because you’re not gonna start making no sense.”
“Logic ain’t logic a lot of times. You really have to have a deeper understanding of what this s**t is going on”
“Noah, come on champ, we want to support you, we gonna support you, you are the third fastest n**a ever. You a fast n**a. But champ, let’s do this together, let’s support everybody. We’re in this together. When we’re over that water, we support everybody. We back here, you say what you wanna say. I want to support you, I’m gonna continue to support you, we gonna support you.”
Carmelo Anthony, a 10-time NBA All-Star and a legend in his own right, initially acknowledged the merit in Lyles’ perspective, but quickly shifted to defend the NBA. Anthony urged Lyles to focus his energy on improving the visibility and profitability of track and field rather than criticizing basketball.
He pointed out that the NBA’s global dominance is due to decades of work, infrastructure, and marketing, something that Lyles could advocate for in his own sport. Anthony also cautioned Lyles about the potential consequences of his comments, warning that continuing to attack the NBA could alienate fans and fellow athletes.
In the end, Anthony’s message was one of support and solidarity. While he defended the NBA’s world champion title, he also expressed a desire to see Lyles and track and field succeed on a global scale, offering his help in any way he could. Anthony urged Lyles to redirect his frustrations into positive change for his sport.
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