Noah Lyles is licking his chops right now. Germany ended the gold medal hopes of Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, and the track star who proclaimed that the NBA does not produce world champions looks as clairvoyant as ever. The 113-111 loss to Germany was the second consecutive World Cup “L” taken by the NBA’s best to the world.
Lyles couldn’t resist the opportunity to troll, reposting on X, formerly Twitter, a picture of himself from the press conference where he declared, “World champion of what?” with the final score also in the picture. Lyles eventually deleted the petty re-post.
Some Noah Lyles doubters are taking an about-face in the wake of yet another unreachable gold medal.
The Fallout
“That’s glaring. It gives credence to Noah Lyles and Boris Kodjoe and others who’ve basically said ‘this ain’t no world championship when they win the NBA championship because the NBA championship is not the world,” Stephen A. Smith said on “First Take.”
“International competition is different, and the USA gets exposed because their lack of depth, their lack of cohesiveness, etc., compared to some of these other teams from other nations speaks volumes, and this is the latest example of it, period,” Smith concluded.
Enter Atlanta Hawks star “Ice” Trae Young, who was not chosen for the team and couldn’t resist adding some of his pettiness to the mix. Young was snubbed from the FIBA team, which was hand-picked by Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr.
Ice Trae
“I would love to play with guys and show off my passing and not have to go out and score a lot and just be there if they need me to,” Young said on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast back in August. “I’d be happy to, obviously, I’d love to play, but I respect the OGs and understand you need to take your turn, but I believe that I should be on there.”
Now that the team, which consists of players such as Anthony Edwards, Brandon Ingram, Jalen Brunson, Paolo Banchero, Mikal Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Tyrese Haliburton, lost the gold medal hunt, Trae had some fun on social media.
He posted, “Another Day, Another Opportunity,” which, although he typically posts that message, was timed right after the FIBA loss.
The NBA took an “L” in the court of public perception, and Noah Lyles and more are now the people standing with the Cheshire smiles, sipping tea on the sidelines.
