Noah Lyles is trying to backpedal from the comments he made earlier this year about Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards.
In an interview with TIME Magazine back in June, Lyles admitted to being unhappy that Adidas invited him to a shoe-release event for Edwards at a time when the sprinter was trying to secure his own shoe deal with the company. While expressing his frustration, Lyles pointed out that Edwards has not even been to an NBA Finals.
“You want to do what?” Lyles said at the 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?’”
The interview gained a lot of attention toward the end of the Summer Olympics in Paris. One prominent NBA player even said he initially thought Lyles’ comments came from a parody social media account.
On Monday, Lyles tried to clarify his remarks. He wrote on X that “there is a rumor going around” that he chose not to attend Edwards’ shoe-release event because he thought Edwards did not deserve it.
“There is a rumor going around that I did not go to @theantedwards_ shoe release because he didn’t deserve it. That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements. Congratulations on Becoming an Olympic champion!,” Lyles wrote on X.
There is a rumor going around that I did not go to @theantedwards_ shoe release because he didn’t deserve it. That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements.
Congratulations on Becoming an…— Noah Lyles, OLY (@LylesNoah) August 12, 2024
It wasn’t really a rumor. Lyles may not have expressed himself the way he wanted to, but he clearly questioned whether Edwards was deserving of a shoe deal. He probably made the comments from a place of jealousy and bitterness.
Of course, Lyles also has a history of tension with NBA athletes. Around this time last year, Lyles irked several NBA stars by publicly taking issue with the term “world champions” being used to describe the winner of the NBA Finals. Those comments were not forgotten in the basketball world, and Team USA even got in a shot at Lyles earlier this weekend after winning the gold.
Lyles is a six-time world champion who won gold in the men’s 100m race in Paris. He and Adidas eventually agreed to the most lucrative track-and-field contract in the post-Usain Bolt era.
