Giannis Antetokounmpo Agrees With Noah Lyles Calling Out NBA Teams Who Claim They're World Champs

American sprinter Noah Lyles made headlines and received plenty of backlash last month when he questioned why NBA, MLB, and other American-based teams and players call themselves world champions after winning the NBA Finals. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won the NBA Finals with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, agrees that it's odd the 'world champs' thing is actually a thing.

Antetokounmpo was asked about Lyles' comments during a recent interview on the 48 Minutes podcast and explained why he agrees with the sprinter.

"I wanted to back him up so bad, you know," Antetokounmpo said. "He received so much backlash for saying the, like, obvious."

"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, more popular than the NBA. When the Champions League, the UEFA Champions League, you know, champions....they don't say the world champion, you know. When they win the World Cup, they play against the USA team, they play against the teams around the world, you know, countries around the world, then they say world champs."

 

While the 'world champions' tagline has been entrenched in American sports culture over the years, it's hard to argue with Giannis and Lyles when you really think about it.

READ: GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO CONSIDERED RETIRING IN 2020 AFTER SIGNING $228 MILLION CONTRACT DUE TO BATTLE WITH STRESS

While the NBA undoubtedly has the collection of the best players in the world, it's not a global league and the NBA Finals isn't some sort of global tournament. The only champions that should technically claim to be world champions are World Cup winners. Olympic gold medalists could get a pass as well given that the Olympics do, in fact, include competitors from around the world.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.