- Noah Lyles elaborates on his NBA ‘world champions’ comment
- Lyles says the national side and world side of basketball are separate
- USA basketball is facing serious questions after second-straight tournament loss
When American athlete Noah Lyles questioned the NBA’s yearly tradition of calling their Finals winner the “world champions,” he received backlash from countless individuals both inside and outside the NBA network.
But after Team USA’s elimination to Germany this week, Lyles doubled down on his take and even responded to the critics who called him out for daring to challenge the longstanding habit: “There are a bunch of funny things that come from it, like having Drake notice it. Like, Drake, what are you doing here? Go back home,” said Lyles in a chat with GQ. “This is an NBA conversation. But I couldn’t go on TikTok for more than three seconds because it would just be like, me. And I’m like, Can I see something else? I don’t want to see me. I go to Twitter to see other things.”
The big issue for critics is that the NBA is still the best basketball league in the world. Plus, while dominated mostly by Americans, over 100 foreign-born players are currently signed on to an NBA roster. For Lyles, there’s no arguing that the NBA is the best of the best, but he refuses to call them “world champs” unless they actually play against the rest of the world.
“To be honest, I truly think the NBA is the best,” Lyles continued. “That was never the doubt. But, there is a level of not understanding the two sides of sports. There’s the national side and there’s the world side, and you can’t have the world championship title without facing the rest of the world.”
Is Lyles Right?
Noah Lyles didn’t mean to attract the attention of the NBA community, but his comments sparked a nationwide debate on what it means to win the NBA championship. For some, like Tyrese Haliburton, winning the NBA title means that you are the best basketball team on the planet and it makes sense because the NBA is the place where the world’s best come to play.
But as we saw in the FIBA World Cup tournament, having the most talent doesn’t always mean you’re the best. After Team USA was eliminated for the second straight summer, people are now questioning just how much the gap has closed between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Clearly, Team USA is no longer the unbeatable giant they were, and the U.S. as a country is no longer ahead of the game in terms of international basketball development. So maybe the NBA should think twice next year before giving the champs a title as leaders of the sport worldwide.
Is It Harder To Score In International Basketball Than The NBA?
The idea that the NBA may be easier than international play is actually not a new idea. For years now, there’s been a belief that the league has made scoring far too easy and that rule changes to offense have limited the NBA’s focus on defense.
“Best scorers in the NBA score from three and get fouled, in FIBA not as many foul calls, more physical,” explained Damian Lillard. “Also, no defensive 3 seconds, so the paint is more crowded, and refs don’t blow the whistle; it’s hard. There are so many things that allow scoring to be easier in the NBA.”
In truth, it’s tough to compare the NBA to FIBA or the Olympics because the way that game is played varies at each level. For the top NBA stars, it can be tough to transition to the world stage given how wildly different the experience can be. For Team USA, it’s finally starting to settle in that their days of coasting to the top of the basketball world stage are a thing of the past.
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