Team USA is currently preparing for Olympic-quarterfinal action against Brazil this Tuesday, as they hope to take home the gold medal in basketball. Just the other day, sprinter Noah Lyles recently won the 100-meter Final in Paris, which generated a reaction from Suns star Devin Booker.
Last year, the American runner criticised the fact that NBA teams call themselves “world champions” when they conquer the domestic title, because the competition is not global, despite having most of the best basketball athletes on the planet.
His statement was very controversial as videos of Lyles spread through the internet as he wondered out loud: “World champion of what? The United States?” Noah’s reaction created plenty of backlash from NBA players who openly expressed their disdain for his take on being a world champion.
Devin Booker gave Noah Lyles his props for his incredible 100-meter win but still disagreed with his comments about the NBAhttps://t.co/3mrvEC24nF pic.twitter.com/Q0q8M6abFS
— Mirror US Sports (@MirrorUSSports) August 5, 2024
For example, Kevin Durant wrote, “Somebody help this brother.” Other like Aaron Gordon posted, “Whatever… I’m smoking buddy in the 200m,” suggesting he could beat the sprinter in a race.
This is why Booker, after attending the 100-meter Final in the 2024 Olympic Games and witnessed Lyles earn the gold medal, told the press that he continues to disagree with his fellow American’s opinion on the NBA. “I still don’t agree with the comment,” he told the New York Times.
“I feel like all the best talent in the world is in the NBA, and this is coming from an Olympic gold medalist (who believes) that being an NBA champion is probably harder to do,” he tried his best to explain himself, but still failed to understand that Lyles simply meant that the NBA is a domestic league.
Other USA players were also on a break as they wait for the upcoming quarterfinals and went to the Stade de France arena to support the American sprinter. “It was crazy,” Devin said after watching Lyles beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by miliseconds. “I mean, it was great for America. Congrats to him.”
Considering that the matches at the Olympics are FIBA-ruled and last 40 minutes each, LeBron James and Steph Curry share the team lead in minutes played with 21.6 per game. Booker comes in third place with 21.1 minutes, as he has started every single one of their international outings.
Team USA is ready to face Brazil in the Olympic quarterfinals and point out their rival’s physicality and offensive rebounding
For now, the Americans continue 3-0 as the No. 1 overall seed after beating Puerto Rico 104 to 83, and in theory, they are facing Brazil as the easiest quarterfinals contest. “They’re all excellent teams, well-coached,” Steve Kerr said. “But Brazil is our focus.”
The U.S. squad would potentially clash against Serbia or Australia in semifinals if they advance this evening, and the earliest they would match up against France, Canada or Germany would be in the Final scenario.
However, the U.S. coach doesn’t underestimate their next opponents despite their underdog status. “They’re very physical. I think they’re the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the tournament,” he said on Sunday. “They’ve got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard.”
“They compete play after play, so we’ll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they’re not going to back down,” Kerr added when talking about their high-efficiency formula, as well as physical game.
