Carmelo Anthony is one of the most storied basketball players of the 21st century. He led Syracuse to a national championship, won three gold medals for the U.S. Olympics men’s basketball team, and is an all-time top-10 NBA scorer.
His son Kiyan, at age 16, said he would beat a 16-year-old Melo.
Kiyan Anthony is a three-to-four-star guard at Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, N.Y.), ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 41 player in the class of 2025. He has helped Long Island earn placement in the national rankings, as the team is 12-2 as of Jan. 27.
In an interview on Tiktok, he was asked if he would beat Melo at his age.
“I’m frying him,” Kiyan responded. “He wasn’t nice until he was 17.”
Anthony watched the video on a recent episode of his 7PM In Brooklyn and responded with humor, laughing as he said, “are you s******* me?
He got moderately serious as he gave respect to Kiyan for believing such a thing.
“I’m (expletive) with the fact that he believes it,” Melo said. “He exudes that confidence.”
But Melo disagrees.
“So, no, (expletive) out of here, Ky,” he said. “I’m speaking to my son, so I don’t want to curse, but… (expletive) out of here.”
As a junior, Anthony averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game for Towson Catholic High School, according to his Syracuse bio, and was named the all-metro player of the year by the Baltimore Sun as he led his team to a 28-9 season. He then transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior season, during which he was a McDonald’s All-American.
So it may be a challenge for Kiyan to beat a same-age-Melo. But the elder Anthony gave his son props nonetheless.
“He got some (expletive) at 16 that I wouldn’t even fathom doing at 16,” Melo said.
Watch the full video of Anthony’s reaction above, and see some of Kiyan’s highlights from summer play below.
