Noah Lyles had a photo-finish win in the 100-meter race during the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, he is now making headlines for his comments about NBA players. One of his comments about Anthony Edwards has resurfaced online, which he made in June while speaking to Sean Gregory of Time. And guess what? The new WBC heavyweight champion Claressa Shields thinks it’s because of jealousy. 

Lyles took offense to Adidas, the widely popular sports apparel brand, inviting him to a shoe release event for Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. This miffed the 27-year-old sprinter, who said, “You want to do what?’ You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe?” 

Noah Lyles expressed respect for Edwards, acknowledging his impressive performance and standout year in the NBA. Lyles also appreciated the foresight Adidas showed in endorsing him as a rising star in the NBA by giving him a shoe deal. However, Lyles questioned, “How could you not see that for me?”

These statements from Lyles were later shared on X by Bleacher Report, which Claressa Shields discovered quickly. “This looks [like] jealousy to me,” she responded to the post. And it’s not just her. New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson also reacted to the same statements, writing, “Damn I thought this was Centel.” However, this wasn’t the first time Lyles has made headlines for his statement about the NBA, nor is it the first time Shields has reacted to it. 

Claressa Shields shares a one-liner on Noah Lyles’ infamous interview

Not too long ago, Claressa Shields took to X, commenting on the resurfaced interview of Noah Lyles from August 2023, where he criticized the NBA’s use of the term “world champion”. Lyles, a five-time world champion, fresh off his 100-meter win at the World Championships in Budapest, had expressed his frustration that NBA players were called world champions despite the league’s primarily American focus. 

He argued that the true global competition was the World Championships, where athletes from around the world competed. Shields responded to the clip with a playful jab, tweeting, “This interview [is] forever funny.” Originally, when the interview had gone viral, Kevin Durant reacted to the comments from Lyles, stating, “Somebody help this brother.” However, after Team USA basketball defeated France in the gold-medal game recently, even the official USA Basketball X account took shots at Lyles, writing, “Are we the World Champs now?”

It appears Noah Lyles’ recent gold win in the 2024 Paris Olympics has started a lot of trouble for the 27-year-old because of his past comments on basketball and its players. Regardless, the question is, do you agree with Claressa Shields that Lyles might be jealous?