The Big Lead

Noah Lyles Clears Up Controversy Over Anthony Edwards Party No-Show

By Joe Lago

Aug 4, 2024; Paris Saint-Denis, France; Noah Lyles (USA) celebrates after winning the menís 100m final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade de France. Mandatory Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 4, 2024; Paris Saint-Denis, France; Noah Lyles (USA) celebrates after winning the menís 100m final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade de France. Mandatory Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports / Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports
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Noah Lyles might be the fastest man on the planet after winning the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics in dramatic, comeback fashion.

One thing he can't outrun is controversy involving the National Basketball Association.

The ongoing feud between Lyles and NBA players and fans was started last year when the American sprinting star ridiculed the league's use of "world champion" to describe its NBA Finals winners. His disappointing bronze-medal finish in the 200 meters, a performance marred by a COVID-19 diagnosis, delighted his detractors.

Lyles probably thought any controversy from the Paris Olympics was behind him after Sunday's Closing Ceremony. But on Monday, he felt compelled to explain his side of a story that wouldn't go away. And of course, it involved an NBA star.

The fuel for this new controversy came from a Time Magazine interview in which Lyles recounted a story about receiving an invite to Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards' shoe release party from Adidas. At the time, Lyles was negotiating a contract extension with the company and felt like Adidas was throwing him "a bone."

“You want to do what?” Lyles recalled to Time. “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? No disrespect: the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe, because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?’”

What drew the ire of the NBA universe was Lyles' perceived disrespect of Edwards for not having "been to an NBA Finals."

On Monday, Lyles attempted to clear things up. He wrote on X that Edwards "definitely deserves his shoes (because) he is an amazing player" and that he did not attend the release party due to "prior engagements."

However, Lyles' final sentence may have reignited his rivalry with his NBA-loving critics, who believe the league plays the best basketball on the globe and therefore rightly crowns "world champions."

"Congratulations on becoming an Olympic champion!" Lyles wrote to Edwards.