ESPN host Stephen A. Smith believes Noah Lyles came across as “flagrantly ignorant” when the record-setting American sprinter took some shots at the NBA for calling the winners of its annual title, ‘world’ champions.
Noah Lyles at the World Championships | NBC Sports via YouTube
Noah Lyles feels that his 100-200m sprint double win at the World Championships was a bigger achievement than titles in most North American sports stars, due to the fact that he competes globally.
“What hurts me the most is I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘World Champion’ on their heads,” Lyles said. “World Champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the U.S. at times. But that ain’t the world.”
But Stephen A. Smith says that the runner has fallen off his blocks on this one. He tried to put things in perspective for Lyles, stating that the young star fails to see the value of everything the NBA brings as a whole.
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Smith basically broke it down as a case of pure world domination. USA basketball indisputably reigns supreme in the sport and stands as a representation of premier basketball talent.
“I’m sure he’s a good brother and a whole bit,” Smith said of Lyles. “He just came across as flagrantly ignorant – and that needs to be said.”
He then added that the NBA features some of the greatest European players that any sport has ever seen: “So, how is that not global? How is that not the world champion One could easily argue that NBA players compete more against international competition than he (Lyles) does.”
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