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Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios recently criticized the American sprinter Noah Lyles for making controversial remarks about NBA "world champions."
On Friday (August 25) night, Lyles, who won three gold medals at the World Championships in Budapest, had some choice words for NBA players. He was critical of the players who referred to themselves as "world champions" after winning an NBA title.
"I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have world champion on their head. 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. That is not the world," Lyles told the media.
"We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA. We gotta do more. We gotta be presented to the world," he added.
Needless to say, Lyles' comments drew criticism from people all over the world, including former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios. The Australian used NBA legend Kevin Durant as an example, claiming that Durant has more talent in his fingers than Noah Lyles has in his body.
"Running, Durant got more talent in his finger than this got in his body," Kyrgios wrote.
Nick Kyrgios recently hit back at Tracy Austin after the American criticized him over retirement talks
Nick Kyrgios is still missing from the ATP tour due to a wrist injury. Despite his absence from the circuit, the 28-year-old lashed out at the sport's intense schedule, claiming it may cause him to retire in a few years.
"The sport’s crazy. The schedule is out of control. No f**king chance [I play till I am 33], there’s no way. There's no chance. I'm playing till 33? Insane! I'm not playing till 33. I promise you when I'm gone, you'll never see me again," Kyrgios said in a recent interview.
In view of Kyrgios' comments, two-time Grand Slam winner Tracy Austin slammed the Australian, saying that it was "sad" that despite being a professional player, he is not deeply involved in the sport.
"I kind of find it sad that you're playing a professional sport and you just don't absolutely love it. You don't drink it up. You don't have to feel like it's such a long season. You want to just feel like you're lucky to be out there " she told the Tennis Channel.
The 28-year-old responded to Austin's comments on Twitter, saying that different people play for different reasons and that not everyone enjoys tennis equally.
"Why am I lucky to be out there? I worked and I put myself in that position, there wasn’t any luck involved. Some people play for different things, we aren’t all tennis n*ts, some of us have a little more of an impact than that," Nick Kyrgios wrote.
