The battle between Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles and players from the most popular professional sports leagues in North America rages on.
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was the latest to join the fray when he responded to a question from “Up & Adams” host Kay Adams on Aug. 12 when she asked Hill about Lyles saying that Super Bowl champions shouldn’t be able to call themselves world champions.
Lyles previously stated that NBA champions shouldn’t be able to call themselves world champions, either.
Lyles starred for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he won the 100-meter dash and took the bronze medal in the 200-meter dash. After the 200, Lyles appeared to collapse on the track and later disclosed he tested positive for COVID-19 before the race.
Hill won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs following the 2019 season.
“Noah Lyles can’t say nothing after what just happened to him,” Hill said. “Then he wanna come out and pretend he was sick … I feel like that’s, like, horseradish. For him to do that and say that we’re not world champions of our sport … come on bruh, just speak on what you know about. And that’s track.”
6x All Pro and SB Champ Tyreek Hill responds to Noah Lyles comments about Super Bowl winners not being “World Champs”… 👀🔊
“Come on bruh, just speak on what you know about and that’s track… I would beat Noah Lyles (in a race).”
Lyles, Hill Both at Top of Their Professions
Lyles and Hill have a lot in common when it comes to their professional careers. Both of them are at the top of their fields and both of them are considered to be some of the fastest people in the world.
Lyles, a Georgia native, is a 6-time World Champion and three-time Olympic medalist after winning a Bronze medal in the 200 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hill is in the middle of what seems like it could be a Hall of Fame career. Through his first 8 seasons, he’s a 6-time NFL All-Pro and 8-time Pro Bowler. He has over 10,000 career receiving yards and has over 1,700 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons and at least 1,200 receiving yards in each of the last four seasons.
He’s also one of the highest paid NFL wide receivers of all time. He signed a record-breaking 4-year, $110 million contract extension with the Dolphins in 2022 and signed another 3-year, $90 million contract extension in Aug. 2024.
When Hill’s current deal runs out following the 2026 season he will have accumulated $183.4 million in career earnings.
Lyles Has Ongoing Beef With Hoops Superstars
All of this began in 2023, when Lyles was speaking with reporters after he swept the 100 and 200 at the World Championship in Budapest and was asked why NBA players call themselves “world champions” after winning the NBA Finals.
“World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the US, at times, but that ain’t the world,” Lyles said. “… We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.”
The NBA has teams in the United States and Canada and has featured the best players from around the world for over 20 years — there actually hasn’t been an American-born winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player award since James Harden in 2018.
“Somebody help this brother,” three-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time NBA champion, current Team USA member and Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant wrote on Instagram.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal.
