NBA star admits he wanted Noah Lyles to LOSE Olympics 100m final after sprinter's bitter basketball feud
- Noah Lyles irritated the NBA community with some now-infamous words
- The American sprinter captured gold in the 100m final in Paris
Knicks forward Josh Hart has admitted that he wanted Noah Lyles to lose the 100m final at the Olympics, as the American sprinter's feud with the NBA continues.
Lyles, who wound up capturing gold in the race, angered NBA players last year when said - unprompted - that his 100-200 sprint double at the World Championships was a bigger achievement than titles in domestic US sports leagues.
'World champion of what?,' he brashly said about the NBA.
Hart and his NBA peers have not forgotten about that line, and the Knicks fan favorite said on his 'Roommates Show' podcast with teammate Jalen Brunson that he was 'hatin' on the track star as he competed in Paris.
'I feel like for most of these Olympics, I was very patriotic - I wanted Team USA to win gold,' Hart began.
The Knicks' Josh Hart admitted he wanted Noah Lyles to lose in the 100m final in Paris
Brunson could tell where the outspoken Hart was headed with his train of thought and urged him to 'save yourself' before egging him on and telling him to finish his thought.
'I really wanted him to lose,' Hart said without mentioning Lyles by name, bringing newly-appointed Knicks captain Brunson to hysterics.
'Damn I wanted him to lose. I think this was the first time that all of the NBA Twitter banded together and was just hatin'. I was hatin' and I was just like 'Damn, you know what, respect. I can't even hate anymore.''
Lyles ultimately came from behind in the 100m to beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 of a second.
He later finished with the bronze in the 200m, though it was revealed after the race that Lyles was battling through COVID.
Hart's sentiment - and there are likely other NBA players that share it - came after Lyles said his double at last year's Worlds in Hungary was a bigger achievement than titles in most US sports leagues due to his global rivals.
USA Basketball appeared to take aim at Lyles after the men's team beat France in the final
Lyles (lane 7) beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 of a second in the 100m final
'I have to watch the NBA finals and they have world champion on their heads,' Lyles said. 'World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world.
'We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting and thriving and putting on a flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.'
Obviously, that's not the case in the Olympics and USA basketball's men's and women's 5x5 teams both beat France in the final to capture the gold medal.
And the USA basketball account seemed to take aim at Lyles after the men beat France with a simple question, asking: 'Are we the World Champs now?'
