CJ McCollum keeps controversy alive by insisting that NBA title is equal to a world championship

During the summer, U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles sparked up a polemic around NBA players calling themselves “world champions” after conquering the domestic league’s title. According to the olympic track star, basketball athletes have no right in doing so. 

“I have to watch the NBA Finals, and they have world champion on their head. World champion of what?” Lyles said back in August after earning three gold medals at the world championships. “The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the U.S. at times, but that ain’t the world. That is not the world.”

However, he didn’t stop there, as he assured only olympic-type competitions truly produce global champions: “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. We got to do more. We got to be presented to the world.”

🏀 Franz Wagner, a FIBA World Champion with Germany, showed up at the Orlando Magic game wearing a t-shirt referencing Noah Lyles, who stated during the basketball World Cup that winning the NBA doesn't make you a world champion. 🌍🏆 pic.twitter.com/yz8Jdhz649

— MARCA in English 🇺🇸 (@MARCAinENGLISH) October 21, 2023

After Lyles’ remarks, many basketball stars like Kevin Durant were against him saying “somebody” needed to “help this brother,” insisting that the NBA is the best basketball competition in the world.

Months after the controversy finally steamed off, Pelicans star CJ McCollum said he understands why NBA champions call themselves “world champs,” and tried his best to explain himself.

“I think ‘world champion’ is interesting, but if you really think about our sport, we got players from everywhere,” he recently told Fox News Digital. “We got players that represent lots of different countries, so I think the premise of it is that we have, collectively, the best basketball players in the world playing from all over representing their teams here in the United States, and that’s why they call it world championship, because it’s the best players in the world.”

The New Orleans guard then expressed how global-scale tournaments, such as the Olympics, can “also” consider themselves the best in the world. Quite an obvious statement, don’t you think?

“Now, obviously, you got countries, and you got all of that stuff, you got the Olympics, which is different, you got track athletes who are running against players from other countries. So that is also considered ‘world championship,” he said. “The Olympics is definitely ‘world championship.’ 100%. Because it’s every country.”

McCollum also addressed New Orleans’ aspirations for this upcoming NBA campaign now that the entire roster is healthy

The Pelicans are ready to begin their quest towards the franchise’s first-ever NBA title as they are only a couple of days away from Wednesday’s opening night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Club star CJ McCollum insists that the team is much stronger now that both Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are healthy.

“Some of the things we did well last season, and I think there’s room for improvement, in terms of execution, in terms of health. Obviously, we were great defensively the entire season. We had some slippage on offense after Jan. 1 when Z (Williamson) went down. So, just being able to collectively come together, do things better, more crisp after take care of the ball, prevent second chance opportunities,” the 32-year-old expressed.

According to McCollum, their main goal is to reach the postseason by the end of March 2024, as it’s all about developing throughout the campaign.

“I think there’s room for a lot of growth on some of the things we did,” the veteran guard said. “And, for us, it’s about positioning ourselves with the playoffs, avoiding the playing game and doing what we can to try to host a playoff game at home this year.”