NBA stars defend Noah Lyles after 'world champion' comment causes uproar

American sprinter Noah Lyles has recently come under fire for criticizing professional sports leagues in the United States, namely the NBA, referring to its title winners as the "world champion." 

Despite several of the NBA's best, including Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Devin Booker, firing back at the six-time track and field world champion, a few superstars are coming to Lyles' defense. 

Speaking on the latest episode of his show "Podcast P," Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George shared his thoughts on Lyles' comments. Although George admitted that Lyles was "technically" right about his claim, the 33-year-old argued that his peers deserve to be called world champions since the best players from around the globe compete in the NBA. 

"I think he's right," George said. "Technically, yeah, the NBA— we have guys from all over the world, right? The game is more and more becoming an international game with the international talent that's coming into the league, but from his point of view, being a USA athlete, I think he's right in terms of world champion, competing on that scale and winning the gold medal."

"But at the same time, I think you have a right — the NBA being the best of the best in basketball, with all these other countries and national players being a part of our league, yeah, you're a world champion," the eight-time All-Star added. "But I don't think there's a wrong answer either way."

George's argument regarding the NBA being the best league in the world has been the most common response from players in opposition to Lyles' claim, and it's a reasonable objection. Especially since the NBA, which has had international players since Italian-born Hank Biasatti made the Toronto Huskies' roster in 1946, has seen some of its biggest names come from overseas, particularly as of late.

2021 Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the NBA's most prominent international  stars, also supported Lyles' opinion and weighed in on the matter in an interview with the "48 Minutes" podcast.

"You know, I don't say that there's other teams out there that they can beat the Denver Nuggets, for example," Antetokounmpo said. "I'm not saying that. But you're gonna have to respect, you know, those teams and say yeah, I'm the NBA champ, I'm the VTB champ, I'm the EuroLeague champ, I'm the Greek champ, I'm the Spanish champ, I'm the French league champ."

While it may not seem such a big deal to cause such an uproar, Lyles has a valid point, as George and Antetokounmpo emphasize. It's also worth mentioning that Lyles further explained to TMZ Sports that he made those comments merely to bring awareness to his fellow sprinters, who don't receive nearly as much attention despite performing on an international stage.

Although the NBA likely won't stop calling its Finals winners "world champions" anytime soon, if any of the Association's superstars don't want an asterisk next to their titles, they better start training for the 2024 Olympics.