Team USA roasted over clueless Olympic social media post
For a nation that literally invented basketball, the United States still seem to have no clue how the international game works.
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Team USA still just doesn’t seem to get it.
The latest edition of the All-Star dripping, staggeringly wealthy American men’s basketball team picked up another gold medal with Saturday night’s 98-87 victory over host nation France.
A team that has been criticised in the past and again at this year’s Games over a perceived lack of class and humility was at it again shortly after taking the top spot on the medal dais.
Rather than happily accepting a gold medal and basking in glory in the sport invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA Basketball’s official X account had to wheel out a narky response to a 12-month old slight.
American sprinter Noah Lyles, who took 100m gold at these Olympics and then managed 200m bronze with Covid and a fever reportedly pushing 39 degrees, infamously took a dig at the NBA’s use of the term “world champion” in a domestic team competition.
Speaking at the Athletics World Championships in August last year after he claimed the 100m-200m double, Lyles was asked about the state of athletics on a global scale.
“You know the thing that hurts me the most?” he said. “I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their heads.
“World champion of what? The United States?
“Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world. That is not the world – we are the world.”
It’s important to reiterate here Lyles was talking about the NBA, nothing to do with international competition.
Still, a wide array of NBA stars bit back at the comment, including Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Draymond Green and Aaron Gordon.
And on Sunday, that USA Basketball account tweeted a photo of the team stepping onto the podium with the caption: “Are we the World Champs now?”
Um, sorry, no. You’re still not.
Firstly, the global World Cup basketball competition was won by Germany last year, with the US team slumping to fourth.
As most of the world can decipher, the Americans are of course Olympic champions, for an impressive fifth consecutive time and 17th time from 21 editions at the Games dating back to the first in 1936.
Secondly, Lyles was not referring to the Olympic Games or the World Cup, it was the NBA.
The fallout to the tweet has been strong and hilarious.
“Honestly, what’s your problem?” started one reply on X. “’World’ is not Olympic. ‘World’ is not USA. Jesus Christ!”
Another wrote: “No. Now you are OLYMPIC champions. Germany won the last world cup, so they are the current world champions. The world doesn’t revolve around you!”
Another replied: “No, because you won the Olympic Games, not the world basketball championship. Shouldn’t be that hard.”
One turfed out: “Looks like Noah is living rent free in your heads.”
And a fourth added: “He really got into your minds...”
A few comments did attempt to state that yes, they are now the world champs, which of course they’re not, with a huge number of the well over 5000 comments simply writing: “No.”
The Americans haven’t won the World Cup since 2014, with Spain claiming gold in 2019 before Germany’s impressive effort last year.
The US will have another chance to finally reclaim that title, legitimately, at the 2027 World Cup in Doha, Qatar.
Originally published as Team USA roasted over clueless Olympic social media post
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