Noah Lyles' Fuck The NBA Tour Rolls On, Says He Was Disgusted That Adidas Invited Him To Anthony Edwards' Shoe Release Because He "Has Not Been To an NBA Finals"
It's nearly impossible for a United States Olympic 100 Meter Dash Gold Medalist to become disliked by the entire country. I don't think Noah Lyles is quite there yet. But I'll be damned if he isn't on a mission to become the most disliked Olympian of all-time. He's one political opinion away from giving Megan Rapinoe a run for her money.
I'm assuming Noah Lyles is mad about being invited to an Anthony Edwards shoe event because he thinks he's more deserving. Maybe based on athletic achievements he is. I will concede that it's statistically harder to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 meter than it is to be a superstar in the NBA. But that really has nothing to do with this. Noah Lyles is simply mad about capitalism.
There's a group of athletes out there who are constantly bitter because they think the amount success in their sport, regardless of what it is, should equate to more money. Like that Olympic women's discus thrower from Vanderbilt who was mad the school gave more money to the football players, even though they never win shit.
It's always annoying to me when people can't seem to grasp that concept. Noah Lyles is the fastest man in the world. But aside from a couple weeks every four years, nobody gives a shit. At least not in comparison to what Anthony Edwards does on a national stage 50-100 times per year. I'm sorry Noah Lyles, but dunks pay the bills in America.
The whole Noah Lyles/NBA controversy started after he won the 100m & 200m at the 2023 World Championships. At the press conference afterwards, he was asked what he would like to do for track & field, and what he'd like to see happen to boost its profile.
First he said he wanted to win more medals, and have more former champions at high-profile events. Ok, sure. I guess that doesn't hurt. Winning medals is good. I'm not sure if 63-year old Carl Lewis showing face at the 2025 World Championship's in Tokyo is necessarily going to get the kids fired up, but whatever. Then after he said that, he decided to inexplicably launch into his whole "fuck the NBA" rant.
Lyles said the medals he wins are the first step to raising track’s awareness in the public’s eye and that he wants more former world champions to be present at high-profile meets. And then he took a turn into taking a shot at the NBA.
“You know the thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on they head. World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the US – at times – but that ain’t the world,” Lyles said.
“We are the world. 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.”
No shit people reacted negatively to that. But here's a crazy thought. What if instead of making an enemy out of the most popular sport in the world. The sport with the biggest front facing, most recognizable stars who fans across the world know and love. What if Noah Lyles embraced them. What if he sat courtside at the games at cheered them on at the Olympics? Picture Noah Lyles celebrating after the France game along with LeBron James and Steph Curry. That would have been great. American gold medalists from different sports coming together to celebrate as one. Now that's a highly marketable moment. You don't think Team USA basketball would have embraced him after winning the gold in the 100m? Had he not embarked on his "Fuck the NBA" tour, of course they would have.
The fans would have loved it. Maybe if he embraced things like invites to Anthony Edwards shoe event, then come Olympic time, we'd have Team USA basketball in the stands supporting the track & field stars. Instead of starting this weird fight with the entire sport of basketball because you're bitter about the way the world works. If he actually cared about growing track & field, he would do things like that to boost it's image. Not just make headlines for saying some dumb shit that everyone hates once every year or so. Not that he has to embrace the sport of basketball. That's just an idea. But as the face of the sport, he's not going to help grow it by being a salty bitch and picking fights against the sports people actually care about.
I'm sorry people only give a shit about track & field once every 4 years. I'm sorry American basketball players get to stay and compete in their home country because the NBA is so head and shoulders above every other league that the best players in the world all come here. I'm sorry they're making hundreds of millions of dollars more than you. But holy shit, Noah Lyles could not be handling this worse. He won the 100m dash at the Olympics and somehow came out of it more unlikable. I guess I should tip my cap to him, because that's almost impossible to do.