Lakers rookie Bronny James and high school star Kiyan Anthony are two of the most well-known sons of NBA players.
Their fathers, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, were both selected in the 2003 NBA Draft. The hoops legends won Olympic gold medals for the United States in 2008 and 2012 and were teammates in Los Angeles before Carmelo retired from professional basketball.
More than two decades after their fathers played against each other in high school, Bronny and Kiyan faced off for their respective programs in 2022. Kiyan is currently a four-star recruit in the Class of 2025 and the No. 1 rated player in New York, per 247 Sports.
During a recent interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the high school standout was asked about Bronny getting drafted:
“It’s definitely really cool. It just shows that anybody could do it, you know? I’m coming up next and I could do it. Definitely happy for him and definitely congratulated him.”
It is unclear exactly what Kiyan meant with this quote, especially considering Bronny had tremendous resources at his disposal on his path to the pros.
He attended the prestigious Sierra Canyon School in Southern California before playing college basketball at USC. Of course, it helps that his father is a 20-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA Finals MVP.
Bronny was also drafted despite not having a tremendously successful season in the NCAA. The guard averaged less than 5.0 points per game in college. So with all of that in mind, the selection isn’t exactly the most awe-inspiring rags to riches story.
However, another noteworthy aspect of his journey is that Bronny had to overcome a cardiac arrest before hearing his name called in the 2024 NBA Draft.
All things considered, it is unlikely that Kiyan meant any disrespect with his comments about Bronny. He has previously said that it was “fire” to see that Bronny was drafted. Kiyan added that he texted him and they chatted on the phone and that he hopes to play against him in the NBA.
Kiyan has also said that he and his dad would lose to Bronny and LeBron if they had to play against each other now, so there is some sense of admiration for their games.
But the Lakers’ decision to draft Bronny was so questionable that even Kiyan’s attempt to praise it sounded like a back-handed compliment.
