Stephen A. Smith slams ‘ignorant’ Noah Lyles in brutal reply to USA sprint king after he mocked the NBA for calling title winners ‘world champions’ saying: ‘US ain’t the world’

Stephen A. Smith believes Noah Lyles came across as ‘flagrantly ignorant’ when the American sprint king mocked the NBA for calling its winners ‘world champions’.

Lyles said his 100-200m sprint double at the World Championships was a bigger achievement than titles in most US sports stars due to his global competition.

‘What hurts me the most is I have to watch the NBA finals and they have world champion on their heads,’ Lyles said. ‘World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world.’

The 26-year-old’s comments have sparked a fierce backlash at home. Several NBA players including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Aaron Gordon – who is a reigning NBA champion with the Nuggets.

‘Somebody help this brother,’ Durant wrote on social media, while Booker responded with a face-palming emoji.

Stephen A. Smith believes Noah Lyles came across as ‘ignorant’ when he mocked the NBA

Lyles said his world titles are a bigger deal than NBA glory because he faces global rivals 

Now, speaking on ESPN’s ‘First Take’, Smith hit out at Lyles, too. He pointed out that almost a third of NBA players come from overseas and even claimed: ‘One could easily argue that NBA players compete more against international competition than he does.’

 ‘First of all, congratulations to your greatness – continue to represent this country the way you did – major props to you,’ Smith said of Lyles. 

‘He just came across as flagrantly ignorant. And that needs to be said. The NBA has established itself as a global iconic brand. 

‘Arguably the best player in the game today – in a lot of people’s eyes – is (the Nuggets’ Serbian center) Nikola Jokic. You have guys from Serbia, Slovenia, the list goes on. Luka Doncic – where’s he from? (Slovenia) Giannis Antetokounmpo – where’s he from? Greece.’

‘Noah Lyles said a very, very, very ignorant comment,’ Smith said of America’s sprint king

Smith pulled out some statistics to prove his point. They showed that last season there were 120 players from 40 countries and six continents in the NBA. 

‘And it’s increased now. So how is that not global? How is that not the world champion? The best players from around the world descend upon America to join the National Basketball Association,’ he continued.

‘Of the 450-plus players, nearly a third of them are international players. And the international players – rather than stay over there or electing to stay over in their respective countries or in Europe, China, wherever the case may be… they want to come to the league, the NBA, because it’s the best basketball league on the planet. 

‘So Noah Lyles said a very, very, very ignorant comment.’