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Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles addressed online speculation that he skipped a shoe launch for NBA star Anthony Edwards because he did not believe Edwards had earned the honour.
Lyles has a frosty relationship with the NBA after criticising the trend of the league’s winners calling themselves ‘world champions’ back in 2023. As part of a press event, Lyles spoke about the United States and how it irked him that NBA teams called themselves champions of the world despite the league being a national competition.
His famous quote: “World Champions…of what, the United States?” went viral and has recirculated recently due to the spotlight of the Olympic Games over the last two weeks.
The United States won Olympic gold medals in both the men’s and women’s basketball events prompting the team’s official X, formerly twitter, account to directly address Lyles’ previous comments by posting a photo of the men’s squad with the caption: ‘Are we the World Champs now?’
The most recent part of this drama came with comments Lyles made to Time Magazine in June of this year where he spoke about his sponsor, Adidas, inviting him to the launch event of Edwards’ signature shoe.
The event was held in September 2023 and Lyles did not attend having responded to the invite saying: “You want to do what. 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?”
As a show of support, athletes regularly attend events for other athletes who share their brand sponsors and with Lyles’ comments making the rounds on social media the Olympic champion addressed them directly.
The day after the Olympics concluded he wrote on X: “There is a rumor going around that I did not go to [Anthony Edwards’] shoe release because he didn’t deserve it.
“That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements. Congratulations on Becoming an Olympic champion!”
Edwards, who plays for NBA side Minnesota Timberwolves, was a part of the US men’s team in Paris and adidas hosted a special event, where they presented him with a special pair of his signature shoes, to congratulate him on winning gold.
