"The situation is totally different": Carmelo Anthony weighs in on contrast between Bronny James and Zaire Wade's distinct hooping journeys
Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony said this week on the "Afroballers" podcast that Bronny James, Zaire Wade and Kiyan Anthony have all taken different basketball journeys. All are the sons of basketball legends who were drafted in 2003.
“Bronny’s situation is totally different than Kiyan, Kiyan’s situation is totally different than Zaire,” Anthony said (Timestamp: 13:09). “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?”
Bronny James, the oldest son of NBA legend LeBron James, has been on a journey that led him to the LA Lakers, who picked him 55th in the June draft after one year with the USC Trojans. His one collegiate season got off to a late start because of cardiac issues.
Zaire Wade, the son of Dwyane Wade, went pro out of high school and was drafted by the Salt Lake City Stars, a G League affiliate of the Utah Jazz (with Wade as a minority owner) in October 2021. Wade had scholarship offers from Nebraska, DePaul and Rhode Island. After also playing for the Cape Town Tigers, he signed with the Macau Black Bears in April to compete in the Asian Tournament.
Anthony said his son Kiyan, a junior at Long Island Lutheran High School in New York, has the chance to learn from their experiences.
“Kiyan is the one that's sitting back and being able to learn from those two, right?” Anthony said. “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.'
“So, we have an opportunity to really be strategic on how we move through this process, because once you're there, I'm going to lose.”
Bronny James' tears as Lakers draft him
Bronny James had an emotional moment when he was drafted by the Lakers, as captured in a video shared by “SportsCenter.” Surrounded by family and friends, Bronny fought back tears while watching the 2024 NBA draft announcement.
Conversely, Kiyan Anthony is anticipating the chance to play against Bronny in the NBA. In a recent conversation on "7PM in Brooklyn" with his father, Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan said:
“Just to know that he started it, and now that I got a chance to, like, follow, not follow him, but get to where he’s at in the league,” Kiyan said.
“That’s fire. I texted him everything. We were on the phone. That’s really fire. Especially him playing with his pops. That’s crazy. That’s so crazy to me.”
“We could play against each other. Like, we played against each other in high school.”
Both Bronny and Kiyan share a similar drive. Kiyan could also be on a journey to the NBA. Last month, Kiyan narrowed his list of schools to Syracuse, Rutgers, Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State and Bronny's old school, USC.
Carmelo Anthony led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA championship, with Dwyane Wade leading Marquette to the Final Four that year as well. LeBron James was the No. 1 pick of the 2003 NBA draft out of high school, with Anthony third and Wade fifth.
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