Carmelo Anthony shares candid opinion on raising son Kiyan Anthony as an athlete: "It's hard"
At first, Long Island Lutheran prospect Kiyan Anthony was best known for being the son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, but since his rise, he has distinguished himself as a remarkable player in his own right. He was recently named by ESPN as the No. 1 prospect in New York in the class of 2025.
During an episode of "Meet the Afroballers," Melo shared a candid opinion with host Ivy Winfrey about raising his son as an athlete.
"It's hard," Carmelo said. "For me with Ki, it's allowing him to go through his own journey, develop and you still gotta understand that you still have to develop your physical skill in order for this to work. As long as this (the mental) is right and you put the work in, you do what you do, you shouldn't feel pressure."
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Kiyan Anthony compared to Zaire Wade and Bronny James by Carmelo
Kiyan Anthony is among a slew of legacy prospects of former NBA legends who hope to become professional basketballers. In the past few years, Zaire Wade, the son of Dwayne Wade, and Bronny James, the son of LeBron James, have all gone pro.
Bronny was recently drafted No. 55 by the LA Lakers to play with his father in the NBA, while Zaire Wade was drafted by the Salt Lake City Stars of the G League straight out of high school, and he now plays with the Macau Black Bears.
During a recent episode of the "Meet the Afroballers" podcast, Carmelo Anthony highlighted how Bronny and Zaire's professional journeys could serve as inspiration for his son's professional path.
“Bronny’s situation is totally different than Kiyan Anthony , Kiyan’s situation is totally different than Zaire,” Carmelo Anthony said. “Zaire had to take a whole another route, which is like, it's astonishing to see the route that he had to take to go to the BAL (Basketball Africa League) in Africa to find his home, right?
“Kiyan Anthony is the one that's sitting back and being able to learn from those two, right? It's like, 'OK, I want to go this route, I want to go that. I don't want to do this, I don't want to do that.'"
Kiyan is definitely getting a first-class education in basketball after attending most of Team USA's games at the just-concluded 2024 Paris Olympics. He immediately flew back stateside with his father and attended Nike’s "NY vs. NY" tournament.
First, Kiyan Anthony has to decide which school he will join to grow his game before he can transition to the professional side of the game. His father's alma mater, the Syracuse Orange, is also in the running for his commitment.