Stephen A. Smith throws shade at Noah Lyles, re-ignites controversy around 'World Champion' proclamation
US runner Noah Lyles' previous comments have been a source for debate for months now. This week, NBA personality Stephen A. Smith has reignited the controversial debate regarding athletes claiming the title of world champion. After Team USA defeated France to win Olympic gold, Smith spoke about previous comments made by Lyles after the Denver Nuggets' championship win.
Following Team USA's win over France in the gold medal game at the 2024 Paris Olympics over the weekend, the Team USA account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted a photo of the team standing on the podium.
The caption of the photo asked if the team was considered world champions now, sparking a number of debates among the NBA community.
While some argued that Germany is still the rightful world champions after winning last summer's FIBA World Cup, Stephen A. Smith argued on The Stephen A. Smith show this week that the NBA champs are world champions given that although the league is comprised of US teams, rosters are filled with the best players in the world.
"When you look at the fabric of the NBA rosters, you see players from all over the world blessing rosters. That's why they can call themselves world champion, because the best that the world has to offer in the sport of basketball find themselves participating in NBA competition Noah Lyles.
"That's why. So I appreciate Team USA saying, are we world champions now? Thank you very much for doing that."
Noah Lyles praises Team USA as world champions after Olympic win
Noah Lyles' comments regarding the Denver Nuggets being hailed as world champions after winning the NBA Finals have continued to be a major talking point in the world of sports. Despite that, after Team USA's win over France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lyles dubbed the team world champions.
While speaking in an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, Lyles praised Team USA, saying that the team deserves the title of world champions after their win.
“It’s not a thing of if I consider [it] or not — they are. They’re Olympic champions and Olympic champions, you face the whole world. They saw how difficult it is. Of course, they came out on top and, of course, I knew they would.
"Because we have some of the greatest athletes. But they saw you can’t just slap everybody together and say, ‘This is a great team.’”
Despite Noah Lyles considering Team USA to be world champions after their win in Paris, others argued that Germany should still be considered world champions given that the team is the reigning FIBA World Cup champion.
Of course, others have countered, saying that the teams countries brought to the Olympics were far better than the rosters at the FIBA World Cup given players like Nikola Jokic playing for Serbia, and the trio of LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant playing for Team USA.