Noah Lyles Is Right: Why Winning the NBA Doesn’t Make You a World Champion

Noah Lyles has never been one to beat around the bush. He calls it as he sees it. He has been referred to as cocky. Arrogant even.

The only thing working in his favour is that he has always been able to walk the talk. He promised to deliver three gold medals during the just-concluded World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Not only did he deliver, but he did so in breathtaking fashion.

The celebrations, however, quickly quietened down, with attention now focused on his post-race sentiments on the National Basketball Association(NBA).

Noah Lyles' attack on the NBA

As categorical and straight-shooting as he always is, Lyles stated that winning the NBA doesn't make one a world champion.

The backlash from that response has been immense, with some of the NBA's hotshots like Kevin Durant and Draymond Green leading the assault. Heck, even popular rapper Drake has jumped in.

From the onset, the 'N' in the NBA acronym stands for 'national,' which, in essence, makes it a competition restricted within the United States, with only the Toronto Raptors coming from Canada.

That alone suffices as an explanation to support Lyles' remarks, but sadly it doesn't. Let me debunk a few half-truths that have been swung in this debate.

NBA's strength compared to other leagues

It is a fact that the NBA is the premier basketball league/competition in the world. It is many years ahead of the likes of the Euro League, Spain's Liga ACB and the rest. And it will remain so unless Saudi Arabia attempts to do a takeover akin to what they have done to football this summer. But even then, they'll need to put in the work tenfold to get anywhere close.

That's why the NBA attracts all the top talents. Leave aside big names like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and other top Americans - the league has Giannis Antetokounmpo(Greece), Luka Doncic(Slovenia), the reigning MVP Joel Embiid(Cameroon), his finals MVP counterpart, Nikola Jokic(Serbia) among others from overseas countries.

2023 first draft pick Victor Wembanyama(France) is also expected to pull similar weight soon.

The argument has been that for one to become an NBA champion, he would have to beat top players from different countries and, therefore, is a world champion. It has also been fronted that Denver Nuggets, or any past NBA champion, will easily beat any team from the 'inferior' leagues.

Assumption doesn't play a role in sports

That might be true on paper, but you and I have been around long enough to know that nothing in sports is always given. You have to fight for it and prove it. Not until and unless the NBA teams play in a competition with teams from other leagues and beat them they remain what the name suggests: National Basketball Association champions.

Harry Kane thinks he could win Ballon d'Or if he does two things at Bayern Munich

Football

At the moment, it is assumed an NBA champion is the best, and it is hard to argue with that given the resources and vast talent pool. But you don't win a title by pure optics.

In the same way people allude to Manchester City as the best team in the world at the moment, it will remain an illusion until they play the Club World Cup and rightfully win the tag 'world champions.' It is 'assumed' they are the best after conquering the toughest club competition in the world, but can they do so when they face other continental champions?

A good case of assumption doesn't always work in sports was in 2013. Chelsea were the best team in Europe but fell short of winning the Club World Cup. The world champions tag went to the less-fancied Corinthians from Brazil. If you had asked anyone before the competition if Corinthians stood a chance, not very many people would have backed the Brazilian club.

Chelsea, like the Nuggets this season, were the best. They had the best everything -players, resources, hefty salaries but a minnow beat them. The beauty of sports.

Admittedly, the gulf between the NBA and the Euro League is huge. I'll possibly be the first one to bet on the Nuggets going all the way if we had a Club World Cup of sorts in Basketball.

But gambling has little to do with live sports action. Get on the pitch and play and earn that title rightfully. Basketball is a global sport - there will always be competition.

You become a world champion by excelling in the local competitions you have nationally to get the ticket to represent your country. Afterwards, you come up against other people or teams from other countries who went through a similar process. When you beat them, you are the undeniable world champion - which Lyles did thrice in 2023.

Also, sidebar: it is rather unfortunate that Lyles has gained 'relevance' for talking about the NBA and not because of his achievements in his discipline. The powers that be in track and field need to do better to market the sport - story for another day.