Several high school basketball standouts who find themselves in this position — managing their own budding basketball dreams while drawing on advice from their fathers who made it in the NBA — spoke to the Herald-leader about this dynamic last month while at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Orlando, Fla.

Kiyan Anthony enjoys breakout year with father Carmelo by his side

Of all the former NBA stars whose sons are now full of basketball potential, Carmelo Anthony has had the most prominent front row seat to it all.

On the surface, this might seem to be the case because of Carmelo’s impressive basketball credentials: Across a 19-year NBA career, the former national champion at Syracuse averaged more than 22 points per game and was a 10-time NBA All-Star selection.

But upon retiring from professional basketball in May 2023 with 28,289 career points (10th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list), Carmelo shifted into full-on travel basketball dad mode. He’s been at just about all of Kiyan’s basketball events since then, whether those were games with his Long Island Lutheran High School (New York) team or USA basketball junior national team events.

“Just being in the gym with him and him dropping gems. Whatever he sees. He watches all of my games so, just him being able to drop off what he sees, because he’s been through it all,” Kiyan said, “I really appreciate him for that. He comes to all of my games, so he gives little pointers within the game. It’s just very helpful because I can quickly apply that to whatever mistakes I’m making.”

And with his father along for the ride, Kiyan — a 6-foot-4, 180-pound shooting guard — has blossomed into one of the top college basketball prospects in the 2025 recruiting group.

Kiyan is currently ranked as the No. 33 overall recruit in the 2025 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite, and he has taken official recruiting visits to Florida State and Syracuse, his father’s alma mater.

“It definitely means a lot with him being there,” Kiyan said of Carmelo attending so many of his basketball events. “This was really my coming out summer, so he was there every step of the way. And I give full credit to him, putting me in the right spots and directing me to the easiest way to score, the easiest way to play defense and just the easiest way to let the game come through.

“Everything I do, everything I know comes from him. Definitely appreciate him for that.”

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