“It’s not easy to following in my blueprint.” Carmelo Anthony once said this as his son continues to prove his doubters wrong. Recently, Kiyan Anthony led Long Island Lutheran to the championship in The Throne high school basketball tournament. Plus, he also secured an MVP accolade. Speaking about accolades, the 18-year-old gave flowers to his father recently, during this year’s Nike Hoop Summit.
“His performance, he knows how to sacrifice, you know, his game. He just utilized all his skills, and he helped him win. He holds one of the most gold medals, you know. That’s my father. He’s the best one.” During the Nike Hoop Summit, Kiyan Anthony answered who his favorite USA basketball player of all time was.
The answer at first of Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t be surprising; after all, just recently, he received his Hall of Fame status for the class of 2025. But not choosing Melo was a hot debate a few months ago.
That’s right. The 18-year-old Kiyan did not select his father for the GOAT category. His answer was current 76ers star Paul George as his GOAT NBA player. If you think the non-selection was not a big issue, it happened right in front of a family member. During an episode of Complex’s GOAT Talk, Kiyan and his mother, La La Anthony, talked about their favorite albums, deli orders, fashion brands, celebrity crushes, and basketball players. “My GOAT is Paul George,” Kiyan confidently said. “Paul George is the best player ever. Kobe [Bryant], Paul George…Carmelo Anthony.”
The answer did not please the ex-wife of Carmelo Anthony. La La was shocked, as any of us would be. “Are you serious? I’m leaving. The fact that you didn’t say your dad first is crazy to me.” The current LuHi Basketball star did some damage control by stating, “He don’t even gotta be talked about though,” Kiyan added, implying Melo being a GOAT is a no-brainer.
Despite being ignored initially, Carmelo Anthony had a thankful message for Kiyan’s GOAT
If one keeps track of the younger Anthony’s progress, then one might know it wasn’t an overnight success. At the end of 2022, the 18-year-old was not part of ESPN’s top 100 players in the class of 2025. From there to now, being the number one player in New York speaks volumes about his hard work. That’s why Melo also credited Paul George for being an inspiring figure in Kiyan’s life.
“I want you to go learn from PG on certain sh-t, That wasn’t my game. I’m not gonna even try to teach you that sh-t.” In his podcast, 8 months ago, Carmelo Anthony shared that his son was training with the 76ers star regularly. Apart from this, during an old interaction with George, Melo had personally thanked him for inspiring his son.
“I do want to give you your flowers and say thank you for inspiring him. That’s big. So I want to thank you, champ, for inspiring my son to be happy, say ‘PG in the house all f*****ng day, all night.’ Thank you for that… We made this happen for a reason.”
As Kiyan continues to hoop and create a legacy of his own, Carmelo Anthony has no issue with his son learning from others. The next step for the 18-year-old is the Syracuse from next season, and he would hope to recreate the championship moment that his father did back in 2003.
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