Only a few athletes accomplished better than Noah Lyles in 2023, let alone in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. However, it wasn’t his medals but his outspoken criticism of NBA players adopting the title “world champion” after winning the NBA Finals that made headlines. His comments sparked a heated controversy in the NBA community, with players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James defending the league’s supremacy.

Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA capitalized on Lyles’ remark to unveil their Paris Games basketball roster with top players like LeBron James (making his fourth Olympics visit), Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant representing the nation. The move drew praise from Marvel fanatic Coco Gauff, thanking Noah Lyles for assembling the Avengers for a global fight; while others lauded the American sprint star on his social media for the apparent master move.

Noah Lyles’s NBA status peeve resurfaces as he gives rise to a phenomenon

In last year’s 2023 World Athletics Championships press conference, Noah Lyles said, “You know what 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?” His comments soon gained traction on social media. Now the same internet fandom is commenting on Noah Lyles’s recent post on Instagram accompanied by the caption, “When the world need a pick me up they call us.” Are you thinking what NBA fans are thinking? Well, World No. 3 Coco Gauff, thinks that the current 12-men national basketball team going to Paris is courtesy of Noah Lyles’s statement.

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A post shared by Overtime (@overtime)Lyles did not limit his criticism to NBA players; he expounded on it, saying, “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. We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.”  NBA star Kevin Durrant replied to Lyles, commenting, “Somebody better help this brother”; Devin Booker added a facepalm emoji, and  Draymond Green remarked, “When being smart goes wrong.”

On April 17, Team USA officially announced its lineup for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which includes basketball legends.  They range from—LeBron James, (three-time Olympic gold medalist) Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, and Kawhi Leonard—the best in the game. The squad will be proudly flaunting their red and blue jersey for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Upon learning about the team announcement, Gauff said, “Noah Lyles, I haven’t met him, but people like to say that he kind of started that super squad because of his comment about NBA [champions] being world champions. So, thank you, Noah Lyles, for assembling the Avengers.” Meanwhile, Noah Lyles is focused on his track events, with plans to compete in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay in Paris. How exactly did he get fans to rally to his side?

What brought fans to agree with Noah Lyles?

Last year, Team US lost in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup against Germany in the semifinals and against Canada in the bronze medal game. Since many NBA players were busy engaging in Noah Lyles’s word war last year, fans remained divided with their stance. But now looks like the English phrase—All’s well that ends well—turned true for Team US.

Reacting to Noah Lyles’s recent post on Instagram, one wrote, “Bro saved Olympic basketball.” Another person wrote, “bro was playing chess the whole time. he deliberately said that so that they can create the best national team.” He might have inadvertently led to a global change in the landscape of Olympic basketball. Might we rely on Lyles now to unify other sports as well wiyh the gift of his gab?

Praises for the perfect basketball team continued, as one wrote, “i just want to thank you for assembling the greatest basketball team ever.” Coco Gauff and Lyles are the formidable duo who led to this paradigm altering shift.

A commentator particularly noted, “Thank you for bringing Bron back to the Olympics.” Another fan agreed with the reigning US Open champion, “You created the Avengers.” What do you think about the strategy that Noah Lyles rightfully claimed? Isn’t it by far one of his best performances off-track?