NBA stars are sending comments all around social media after United States track star Noah Lyles gave his thoughts on the NBA champs claiming the title "world champions".

Here's my quick recap and reasoning why I believe the NBA can claim the title of "World Champions".

1) The NBA is the most competitive league in the world comparatively to the foreign counterparts. The top foreign prospects come to the NBA to play against top competition. The league currently consists of over 140 international players from over 40 countries that cover six continents. It is hands down the most competitive professional basketball association in the world. If the Charlotte Hornets were to play Olympiacos Piraeus, who led the EuroLeague in regular season wins last year, the Hornets would most likely beat them nine time out of ten. Whereas in a sport like soccer, one of the most popular sports in the world, you can have out-of-league opponents square off and it is a fist fight to the end. There is more parody in the sport at the professional level throughout the world. Basketball is clearly dominated by the United States.

2) Foreign players elevate the competition of the NBA. The leagues last five MVP trophies have been won by three international players: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), and Joel Embiid (Cameroon). Additionally, the NBA has Luka Doncic (Slovenia) who has been a finalist for MVP numerous times over that stretch, along with a slew of Canadian players filling out tons of roster spots throughout the league. You look at No. 1 overall picks since 2000, eight are international-born players. The NBA doesn't just consists of foreign-born players, they're some of the biggest superstars in the league. Furthering the point that the NBA is a melting pot of the best basketball players in the world.

Side Point: Lyles does have a point. His verbiage isn't a complete error. It does seem unique that a league that is only played in North America with 29 of 30 teams residing inside the United States would claim the title of "World Champions". This title seems more fitting for an event such as FIBA or the olympics. This is where we see winners of "world champions" crowned in sports such as soccer, baseball, and track & field, but basketball is truly different. For starters, the biggest stars don't even play in FIBA - both for the U.S. and international countries. Luka is the only foreign player from those listed earlier who is representing their country in the FIBA competition. The rest decided not to play. For this current U.S. roster, only one player has been crowned NBA champion. The true U.S. superstars have executed their option to pass on FIBA ball and leave the slots for the younger, up-and-coming stars. Bobby Portis is the only player on the roster with at least 8-years of NBA experience and the only one with a NBA championship ring. So even if USA falls short of the championship in FIBA, there's still the argument that the roster does not consists of the best Americans from the NBA (Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, etc).

Check out the podcast below from 'In The Zone' where Brandon and I expand on this argument.

Also, heres a thread of NBA stars commenting on Lyles opinions...