"I think I would win": Carmelo Anthony's son Kiyan Anthony states that he could take a 17-year old Jayson Tatum on a 1v1 

By Aman Sharma

Modified Sep 29, 2024 14:06 GMT

In a lighthearted exchange, Kiyan Anthony confidently claimed that he could beat a young Jayson Tatum in a one-on-one game. During the conversation, Tatum, now a star for the Boston Celtics, posed a question to Kiyan, son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony:

“Who do you think would win if I was 17 and you were 17?”

Kiyan responded without hesitation,

"I think I would win."

Tatum, intrigued, pushed back,

“You think you could beat me now?”

Kiyan quickly dialed back his confidence with a laugh, admitting,

“Yeah! Nah, I’m lying.”

The banter didn’t stop there, as Kiyan also asked Tatum how he would fare in a matchup against his father, Carmelo Anthony, during Melo’s prime.

“If you play my pops one on one in his prime, to 11, what do you think the score would be?” Kiyan asked.

When Kiyan specified his father's peak as around his final season with the Denver Nuggets and his early years with the New York Knicks, Tatum confidently predicted,

“We’re going to 11? 11-8, me.”

Jayson Tatum had a stellar 2023-24 NBA season, averaging 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists over 74 games.

He averaged 25 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the NBA Playoffs as the Boston Celtics won the championship.

Kiyan Anthony navigates recruitment without pressure to follow his father’s legacy at Syracuse

Kiyan Anthony is in the midst of a high-profile recruitment process, with Syracuse, his father's alma mater, among his potential college destinations.

No. 36 in the 2025 ESPN 100 as a four-star recruit, Kiyan is fully aware of the legacy his father left at Syracuse, where Carmelo led the Orange to an NCAA championship in 2003 as a freshman.

Despite these deep ties, Kiyan insists that his father has never pressured him to follow the same path.

"[My father] never pushes me to go to Syracuse just because his name is on the gym," Anthony told ESPN. "He did so much at Syracuse. He knows that I'm my own person. I've just got to make my own decision at the end of the day."

Kiyan Anthony also shared that he frequently visits Syracuse to practice and work out but emphasized his father’s stance:

"He's not going to make me follow in his footsteps unless I really want to."

Kiyan Anthony emphasized that while his next visit to Syracuse will significantly impact his decision, the choice will ultimately be his own.

"Even though I know basically the whole world wants me to go to Syracuse, I still haven't made the decision yet and I still have to talk to the coaches some more and really get into detail -- like what other players are coming, how they want me to play, how I'll be coached and stuff like that," Anthony said.

Kiyan Anthony will decide on Syracuse, Auburn, USC, Florida State, Ohio State, and Rutgers as the finalist colleges. It's not confirmed when Anthony will decide but the next two months will show his choice.