Carmelo Anthony’s son has the best to learn from. Like his father, Kiyan too seeks to spin his skills in the NBA. As a celebrity kid, he faces even more pressure and expectations than Melo did in the past. Sharing this same burden are Bronny James and Zaire Wade. Each has headed their own path, but Melo notes, that has precisely offered Kiyan, the youngest of the lot, a learning opportunity. 

“I mean we look at Bronny his situation is totally different than Kiyan’s. Kiyan’s situation is totally different than Zaire. Like Zaire had to take a whole another route… Bronny had go through what he had to,” Melo explained during his appearance at the ‘Meet the Afroballers’ podcast. 

It wasn’t easy for either. Dwyane Wade’s son, Zaire, 22 began his pro career in the NBA G League after skipping college and later moved to the Basketball Africa League. Following this, he faced a lot of scrutiny and comparisons to his NBA father. Despite the challenges, he has persevered. “I’m just learning that I’m not going to be able to please [everybody] at the end of the day,” Zaire said in an interview.

Bronny, on the other hand, made it to the NBA, but only after intense criticism and a short-lived college career. His recent beginnings in the G League had placed him under keen eyes, scrutinizing his every performance. Witnessing the paths, Kiyan, who is only graduating high school in 2025, is having an opportunity to learn and reflect on his decisions. Moreover, Melo is all in for deciphering and making the best of what’s visible.

“Kiyan is the one that’s sitting back and being able to learn from those two right it’s like okay I want to go this route I want to go that I don’t want to do this I don’t 5 want to do that. So we have an opportunity to really be strategic on how we move through this process,” Melo adds. 

Carmelo Anthony has a reminder for his son

Being a celebrity kid comes with a lot of pressure. And with Kiyan, Melo looks forward to lessening the pressure.

The four-star guard is making long strides with his spectacular performance, drawing a star-studded crowd even at his young age. NBA player Ja Morant attended one of the EYBL matchups to watch Kiyan play. While he has always had celebrity crowds, averaging 20.3 points and 1.6 assists across 10 games in EYBL is on a whole different level.

This is exactly what the New York Knicks legend wants. “You do what you do. You shouldn’t feel the pressure to do what I got to do as a parent,” he adds. 

Kiyan is already on his path to excel. The 17-year-old not only found himself ranked no.1 in New York in the 2025 recruiting class, but also had analyst Arden Franklyn saying, “Even if he wasn’t Carmelo’s son or if his last name wasn’t Anthony, I still think he would get the reputation that he has because he’s a legitimate player, the way he scores his attitude is different.”

Stay tuned for more such updates and 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.