Giannis Antetokounmpo Defends Noah Lyles and His World Champions Stance

“I might get some backlash for this."

After the United States flopped at this year’s FIBA World Cup, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo weighed in to back track star Noah Lyles’ criticism of the term “world champions.”

Lyles took plenty of heat after comments he made in August calling out NBA players for their use of “world champions” to describe the winner of the NBA Finals. Several NBA stars, including Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, called out Lyles for the comments. But Team USA’s rough performance in the World Cup did in some ways validate Lyles’ point, and Antetokounpo backed him up in an appearance on the 48 Minutes podcast.

“I might get some backlash for this, but I really do not care. I totally agree with [Lyles],” Antetokounmpo said.

Antetokounmpo brings an interesting perspective to the debate as a foreign-born NBA star. His take: Regardless of the NBA’s strength compared to other global leagues, winning the title doesn’t automatically anoint you world champion.

“He received so much backlash for saying the obvious,” Antetokounmpo said. “I don’t think in any other sport, you are called the world champions. You know, like in soccer, which is way bigger than the NBA.”

Fans chimed in after Giannis’ defense of Lyles. 

no one was disagreeing with noah, but this is a useless conversation. if you take the champs from all the basketball leagues, whoever wins in the nba is far better. we're not taking the best players from each country, we're taking the best team. https://t.co/5YMK5rivPE

— aaronburrsir (@our_plxn) September 13, 2023

Agreed.

It’s the NBA, *National* Basketball Association.

If it were to be the “world champions” it would be the IBA, *International* Basketball Association.

Call them NBA Champions on the hats and shirts and move on… #worldchampions https://t.co/14mHLjiUAF

— Adam Leao (@adamrleao) September 13, 2023

Anyone who actually watches futbol knows this. There's a reason why the World Cup is the holy grail and not the Champions League. https://t.co/SXo7evjJfN

— Yerr (@savithatdude) September 13, 2023

I don’t even understand how this a hard concept to understand lol https://t.co/k18dOKo3L7

— T. Butler (@_TButler) September 13, 2023