It’s been a big summer for Kiyan Anthony. From bringing people to their feet at Peach Jam to keeping everyone on edge about his college decisions, the 17-year-old guard has become the basketball phenom to watch. And wherever he goes, his dad is not far behind. We’re seeing more sides of Carmelo Anthony than his NBA career has shown. He’s Kiyan’s first coach, one of his most visible cheerleaders, and an inspiration even from courtside. While Kiyan stands out at the USA Basketball junior minicamp, his dad shone even in his absence.

Rivals caught up with Kiyan, one of the three standouts in a nationwide pool of talent at this camp, to talk about his dad. Fans wanted to know when Melo and Kiyan are sitting courtside at NBA, Olympics, and EYBL games, what they talk about. The teen guard confirmed that his dad does break down plays to him.

“I would say more in the first half, he’ll really break down the game. Like, ‘oh, you see what he did here, you should be doing this,’ and stuff like that,” Kiyan said. And what about the second half? This one is more about a dad-son activity. “We really try to, you know, break the game down, or he’ll let me tell him what I’m seeing and stuff like that.” 

Melo takes the responsibility of guiding his son seriously. He recently said, “if you (Kiyan) feel like you need to go to somebody else to get this information, me and you got a problem because I done put in a lot of work in this industry. I done spent two decades of perfecting my craft.” So, yeah, he’s ensuring Kiyan gets all the advantages of his pro-ball career.

“He does a good job of talking to me about the game, but also letting me make my own decisions and letting me, you know, see the game for myself,” Kiyan said, confirming what everyone’s observed about Melo since retirement.

Carmelo Anthony is one of the greatest stars in Team USA history since the inception of the Dream Team. He showed that he could coach his former teams in Paris 2024 this summer with Kiyan next to him. But he’s refused to consider coaching beyond the youth level. When it comes to his son, we see more of Melo the mentor.

Kiyan Anthony makes the most of his dad’s retirement

Kiyan narrowed his college choices to top 3 this month. His dad’s school, Syracuse, is one of the first and top frontrunners. But Melo stays out of his college decision. Fans and even Rival have noticed, though, that he’s always with Kiyan on college visits. Since officially retirng in 2023, Melo has put more focus on Kiyan, including coaching him and his friends at Team Melo in the EYBL.

For the first time, Kiyan expressed what a privilege it is to have one of the Top 10 all-time scorers of the NBA around. “I feel like now that he retired, he really dedicated, you know, basically his life to…just supporting me and coming to all of my trips, all of my basketball stuff. Even if it’s not basketball, he’s still there. So I’m forever grateful for that.”

Kiyan said he does work out in the gym under his dad’s supervision and Melo keeps him away from distractions. He even credited Melo for being invited to the Team USA camp.

For his part, Carmelo (as well as his ex-wife, La La) stay in the sidelines and watch Kiyan do his own thing. Before his 18th birthday, Kiyan’s already standing out separate from his dad’s spotlight. But we love seeing this dad-son have their moment on the court.