The NBA is undoubtedly the most talented basketball league in the world. Even their mid-tier players are likely to triumph over the top crop among the rest of the leagues. The league used to label the NBA Finals as World Championship in the last century. However, that changed in the current era where the league shed the tag of “World Championship”. However, many NBA players consider themselves world champions.

This debate has pumped in after track and field phenom Noah Lyles took shots at the NBA. In this wake, a well-reputed NBA Head Coach shared his thoughts about the matter 13 years ago.

Noah Lyles brings a storm to the NBA 

Right after notching gold in 100m, 200m, and 4X100m relay at the World Athletics Championship, USA’s own Lyles pierced into the NBA world.

He stated, “You know, the things that hurts me the most and they have the world champion on their head. World Champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love USA at times, but that ain’t the world. We are the world. We have every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are presented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA”.

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These comments brought a rise out of many NBA players and they didn’t shy away from taking shots at the speedster. Kevin Durant went as far as saying, “Somebody help this brother”. Juan Toscano Anderson questioned Lyles by asking why wouldn’t they adopt the tag because the NBA is the “best competition in the world”.

There were other responses too and many NBA players didn’t take kindly to his comments. The NBA fanbase also shared their thoughts, and the debate has divided many USA sports enthusiasts.

Therefore, this debate is all the rage. In this vein, what are the thoughts of veteran head coach Gregg Popovich?

Popopvich’s thoughts align with Lyles

In 2010, the man of few words shared his thoughts on the matter. He stated, “It doesn’t make sense for an NBA team to call themselves world champions. I don’t remember anybody playing anybody outside our borders to get the tag”. These comments clearly back what Lyles said a few days ago.

As a five-time NBA champion with the Spurs, the coach has sat at the top of the NBA. Like Lyles, he also believes that the Association is domestic, so why should the teams and players call themselves world champions?

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At this point, this has become a semantics debate.

Do you agree with Pop and Lyles? Do share in the comments below.

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