Why is Noah Lyles facing backlash after LeBron James became Team USA's flag bearer for Paris Olympics? All about the controversy explained

Noah Lyles is facing backlash from the basketball community after NBA icon LeBron James was announced as the flag bearer for Team USA for the Paris Olympics 2024. Lyles is being targeted by the fans for his comments from last year's World Championships where he had claimed that an NBA title winner couldn't be called a ‘world champion’.

Lyles scripted history at the 2023 World Athletics Championships last year, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win the 100m and 200m double. He also won the 4x100m relay event with Team USA. Following his triple triumph, the 27-year-old said in a post-race interview:

"You know the thing that hurts me the most is that 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. We are the world."

The sprinting sensation’s comments took the basketball world by storm with big names such as Kevin Durant taking a dig at the sprinter.

"Somebody help this brother," he wrote in the Instagram comment section.

Rapper Drake also commented on the matter, saying:

"He thought this speech was gonna be so hard in the mirror the night before..Now the whole league doesn't rate u," he wrote on Instagram.

LeBron James didn't comment on the controversy. But following Team USA's announcement that James would be the country's flag bearer at the Paris Olympics 2024, Noah Lyles was targeted by basketball fans on X, taunting the sprinter for having to walk behind an NBA champion while being a world champion himself.

Both the USA Basketball Team and Noah Lyles are the favorites to take the gold in their respective events.

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Noah Lyles will be eyeing a historic triple at the Paris Olympics 2024

Noah Lyles at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field - Day 9 - Source: Getty

Since Usain Bolt retired following the 2016 Rio Olympics, Noah Lyles has gradually risen through the ranks to become one of the faces of track and field. He has the triple world title to make the claim of being the best but to solidify himself as one of the greatest, he will need to win the three gold medals at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Lyles is an overwhelming favorite in the 200m and is undefeated over the distance in the last 25 races. He also has a solid chance of winning the 4x100m relay gold medal as Team USA is fielding a strong lineup.

Lyles’ only concern will be the 100m, and although he showed great promise at the London Diamond League, the 27-year-old will need to hold off fast-paced Jamaicans, particularly Kishane Thompson.