The fact both Carmelo Anthony‘s son and LeBron James‘ younger son Bryce are at a similar stage of basketball is bound to bring comparisons between the two. Just like their legendary father were weighed in against each other throughout their time. But hasn’t Kiyan already shut down one more comparison between the two dynasties?

Last month Kiyan was asked, “Who would win a 2-on-2 matchup between Carmelo and Kiyan and new Los Angeles Lakers teammates LeBron James and Bronny James?” With little hesitation, Kiyan had replied, “I think Bron and Bronny would win, to be honest. Just because Bron is still in the league. He’s still doing what he doing.” Now it seems Kiyan has mastered the art of when to turn on his competitive side and when to be his normal self. Leaving any competitiveness on the court itself.

For those who missed the 6’4″ player’s EYBL run or even witnessed it for that matter, Overtime has come up with a video from the time to let out some behind the scenes. And thoughts that went into the series. The video also featured some highlights from the game between Kiyan (Team Melo) and Bryce (SFG). Curious about what exactly was going on through the 17-year-old’s mind facing his close friend?

“There’s a lot of eyes on us. I can’t let Bryce outplay me,” junior Anthony revealed in the video by Overtime. And he didn’t. Though his team lost to the SFG by 65-71, the junior Anthony picked up 18 points, and 4 assists as compared to Bryce’s 8 points, and 1 rebound. And as expected, many on the social media platforms emerged comparing two 17-year-olds. Putting down one while elevating the other. And Kiyan does not want any of this, as he stated in the recent Overtime video.

Despite mentioning he did not want Bryce to outplay him in the EYBL game, Carmelo Anthony’s son made it very clear that he does not want the media to put them up against each other. He mentioned everyone wants each of them to claim to be better than the other. But that’s not happening, no matter the external opinions. In fact, Kiyan even praised Bron’s 17-year-old, calling him someone who is like a “cousin”.

The Team Melo player highlighted Bryce’s shooting skills and athletic ability. “When he get high, he really don’t miss. He bouncy. He more bouncy than me. I ain’t even gonna lie,” Kiyan said. He even stated that Bryce’s dunk somewhat resembles that of his father. With that he also brought the reference of how the media played up the relationship between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.

“They weren’t rivals. They were really best friends. But the media always gonna make it seem like they got something against each other,” Kiyan said. And the 17-year-old does not want the same to be happening to him and Bryce. Indeed, the James-Anthony friendship is one for the history that stood the test of time despite them playing for different franchises for most of their careers.

The two started their NBA journey together from the iconic 2003 draft. James was the first pick by the Cavaliers and Anthony was third by the Nuggets. But their friendship started the year before that. And it was purely a chance encounter in a hotel lobby in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 2002.

Melo played for Oak Hill Academy, while LeBron played for St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. As the two teams prepared to face each other in a game in Trenton, New Jersey, the two came across in the hotel lobby.

They had previously heard of each other, but in the era that did not see social media chatters, there was no way to catch up until they met in a meet. “[LeBron] come in the hotel, and we come in the hotel. And he’s like, ‘Yo, you Melo?’ I’m like, yeah,” Anthony had said on the “All The Smoke” podcast. The two immediately struck a chord, and that was not basketball.

“We sat there for hours, just kicking it, just talking. We clicked from that moment. We just felt like we had similar backgrounds: single-parent home, broken family, growing up in the hood. That was a similar story. So we connected off of that before basketball,” Anthony had said about the first day of their friendship. That came to a full circle when Anthony joined the Lakers for his final season in the NBA. Despite the widespread comparison, the two remained bonded ever. That was evident when Anthony retired from the arena.

Anthony ended his storied career last year with an average of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest while shooting 44.7% from the field and 35.5% from the three-point range in 1,260 regular season games. LeBron was one of the first to take to his social media to mark the occasion. And he seemed to be falling short of words.

In an emotional message, King James said, “Congratulations, my brother. Where do I start?” James said in a video tweeted by the Lakers on Monday afternoon. “I could sit here and talk for hours and hours and hours. I’m just so proud of you, man, and so blessed that I was able to be a part of your journey. You’re one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen play.” Now their sons are on their way to carry the legacy forward. An immense media trial is already following them, just as recently happened with Bryce’s ranking.

Where do the 17-year-olds of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony stand?

Throughout the EYBL, Kiyan had an impressive run. Averaging 19.6 points, and 4.6 rebounds per game in 15 games he played. As of now, the 17-year-old stands at the 30th spot in On3’s top 150 list of Class of 2025. Meanwhile, Bryce could only manage 5.6 points, and 2.4 rebounds per game from the 5 games he played at EYBL. However, even Kiyan had a major spurt of growth in his game this year itself, so things could still fall in place for Bryce as well.

But his ranking increasing from 135 to the top 100 in On3’s revised list did not go well with the netizens. Multiple social media users emerged to bash the move, alleging nepotism was in play. The allegations were based on the rise in Bryce’s rankings despite his subpar performance in the EYBL.

In fact, even an NBA insider, Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney, also raised questions about the development in rankings. “Bryce James being a top-100 recruit is significantly worse than anything Bronny-related over the last two years…,” Sweeney wrote on X, basing his opinion on the stats of Bron’s 17-year-old. No matter what Carmelo Anthony’s son wants, it’s clear that he and Bryce are not enjoying the same love from netizens.

Stay tuned for more updates. Join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host, BG12, sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.