"Confidence up there but lil bro losin": College hoops fans react to Kiyan Anthony's claims about taking dad Carmelo Anthony 1v1
Kiyan Anthony is set to begin his freshman season at Syracuse, following in his father Carmelo Anthony's footsteps.
Kiyan appeared with Carmelo on the "Close Friends Only" podcast on Monday. Ballislife on Instagram shared a clip from the episode where they discussed who would win a 1v1 game between them.
Carmelo is a six-time All-NBA Team member and a 10-time NBA All-Star. However, that didn't deter Kiyan, who was confident he can pull through if he gets "a stop."
"Who do you think is winning RIGHT NOW, Melo or Kiyan?!? 👀👀 On a new episode of the Close Friends Only podcast, @carmeloanthony (Carmelo Anthony) and @kiyananthony (Kiyan Anthony) talk about what would happen if they ran the 1’s. Listen to the full episode now on Youtube!" Ballislife wrote on Thursday.
Fans didn't believe Kiyan would win against Carmelo, who played 19 seasons in the NBA.
"Confidence up there but lil bro losin 11–2😭💯," a fan said.
"Podcast-Melo will still give Kiyan that work, 11-1 👍🏾😂👍🏾🏀🔥," another fan wrote.
"Great confidence but he’s getting cooked😂 Melo has too many offensive moves. NBA players hated/couldn’t guard Melo 😂😂 he was too strong. His son doesn’t have many strength yet," a fan commented.
"You Never gon get that stop lil bro 😂😂," another fan wrote.
Some thought Kiyan's confidence in his abilities must be a proud moment for Carmelo as a father, if not as a player.
"As a father, this gotta be the greatest feeling 🔥," one fan commented.
Kiyan is the No. 32 prospect nationally, the No. 7 shooting guard in the 2025 class and the No. 1 prospect in New York, according to 247Sports.
Carmelo Anthony jokes about 'cooking' son Kiyan Anthony in a 1-on-1 matchup
During Monday's episode of the "Close Friends Only" podcast, Carmelo Anthony was asked if he he could “cook” his son, Kiyan Anthony, after watching his highlights.
“Man! 18, I would destroy this kid," Carmelo said. "Light!”
Known for his isolation game, Carmelo didn’t rush to answer, instead, he said that he watched Kiyan’s play through a different lens.
"When I watch your highlights, I’m looking for certain things, you know, depending on the game, depending on the situation, I'm looking for, certain things," Carmelo said. "So I'm not, I don't look at it, like everybody else look, you know might look at it."
During his NBA career, Carmelo averaged 22.5 points per game on 44.7% shooting, including 35.5% from beyond the arc.