U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles previously rejected invite to an Anthony Edwards’ shoe event

New information about the relationship between Noah Lyles and NBA stars has been surfacing the internet ever since Team USA earned the gold medal in the Paris Olympics this summer, and as expected, it is sparking controversy. Apparently, earlier this year the U.S. sprinter rejected an invitation to participate in an event for a basketball athlete.

To give a little context, the gold medalist first drew attention from the NBA world in August of 2023 when he questioned players that called themselves “world champions” after winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy. He believes that this is unfair considering that the league is made up of teams from the United States, plus the Toronto Raptors.

“You know the thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head,” Lyles expressed last year. “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.”

Noah Lyles wanted his respect after being invited to an Anthony Edwards event

(via Time) pic.twitter.com/zbP0NdvA8p

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 11, 2024

Just recently, information arouse suggesting that Noah took a shot at Minnesota star Anthony Edwards when Adidas invited him to a shoe-release event earlier this year. “You want to do what?” Lyles reportedly said. “You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe?”

“No disrespect: the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe, because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?” he added.

The U.S. men’s national squad recently defeated the French hosts 98-87 mostly thanks to Stephen Curry, who put on a show from beyond the arc. The Warriors icon ended the gold-medal contest with 24 points and 5 assists on 8-of-13 shooting from range, with four-clutch triples in the last three minutes.

The American sprinter also earned himself some accolades during the Olympic Games this summer, as he took home the gold in a tight 100-meter race, as well as bronze in the 200m run. Even though he competed in the 200m competition, he was seen struggling after the race because he was later diagnosed with COVID-19.

Lyles finally broke his silence after Team USA conquered the gold medal in basketball, admitting they now deserve the “world champion” title

According to the gold-medalist sprinter, there is no doubt now that the U.S. men’s basketball squad has earned the right to be called “world champions,” as they competed against the best nations in the globe. The athlete finally broke his silence after days of controversy, as both fans and players were wondering what his thoughts were on the matter.

“It’s not a thing of if I consider or not. It’s…they are. They’re Olympic champions and in the Olympic champions you face the whole world,” Noah said. “And they saw how difficult it is. And 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.'”

The American sprinter assured that many basketball players from other countries agree with him, and defend the fact that the sport is played differently in other parts of the world. “You know there was a ton of countries out there who said “Hey we’re not lying down just because we don’t play in the NBA. You know we have cohesion. We have our own way of playing the game,”‘ he explained.

Finally, Lyles admitted that he always believed Team USA would earn the gold medal, although it wouldn’t come easy. “And there was a lot of close calls. But again, like myself, I have confidence in the U.S. basketball team that they were going to make it all the way,” the athlete concluded.