It’s been quite hectic for Kiyan. But he sure is having the best time this summer with his parents. After dominating the basketball circuit, the 17-year-old was spotted practicing some martial arts, Katana training, with his mother La La Anthony in Japan. Wrapping up his vacation there, Kiyan is back in business, joining his father Carmelo Anthony in Paris to watch the basketball quarter-finals.

Catching up on the action wasn’t just the father-son duo. The two were spotted courtside with former Spanish six-time NBA All-Star Pau Gasol and special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki. It’s not often that we see three legends of basketball together and so they ensured to frame it.

The 10-time NBA All-Star shared a carousel of pictures from the Paris Olympics 2o24 on Instagram, including a heartwarming shot of Anthony hugging Lakers star LeBron James. The post is captioned, “When you give joy to other people, you get more joy in return. Reste Melo #Paris2024.”

All five stars seemed to have sat through both the USA vs Brazil and France vs Canada games in the quarter-finals. San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 7 points and 12 rebounds was also photographed in one of the snaps as he greeted the 17-year-old. 

Such exposure would certainly help young Kiyan as the four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class would only appreciate watching Team USA succeed in the highest form of internal competition. For now, among his list of top 6 schools, Syracuse is definitely in contention, the same institute that registered its first and only NCAA Championship win in 2003 with a rookie Melo taking the helm.

Kiyan, who can score the rock from three levels and has a good-looking 3-point shot, may even find Rutgers, Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State, and USC to have a good program too. But Syracuse’s new practice facility bears Anthony’s name. After all, Melo donated a whopping $3 million to kick-start the project. As far as Melo is concerned, he has advised Kiyan to not rush his way into the NBA. In his podcast 7 pm in Brooklyn, Melo laid it out straight,

“I don’t even preach one-and-done to him, I don’t even want you to start thinking that right now. We ain’t rushing nothing, you going to college. If you have to stay for two, if you have to stay for three, we adapt as we go. If you ready to go after your first year, then we’ll look at it.”

Carmelo Anthony—who himself has 4 Olympic medals, 3 gold, and a bronze—was previously spotted at the Team USA house to celebrate the Basketball teams. Kiyan, however, seems to have only made his appearance, following a trip to Japan with his mother.

Kiyan Anthony inked a tattoo to pay tribute to his mother La La Anthony 

Before heading to join his father, Kiyan spent plenty of time enjoying his summer with his mother, exploring the streets of Japan. La La even shared a clip of Kiyan’s interaction with one of his fans. She was thrilled to see how much the hoop fans in Japan loved Kiyan. The 17-year-old’s popularity seems to only just be growing after his jaw-dropping performance at the EYBL. But a more fazing act for La La would have been to find a tribute to her permanently inked on Kiyan’s hand – revealed to the public on their Japan trip. 

The 17-year-old got a tattoo of his mother’s face on his forearm with a message of gratitude. “Dear Mom, you continuously put me before yourself. You are my why. I thank God for you every day,” the tattoo read. But the 42-year-old hasn’t shared a reaction yet. What she was more intent on sharing instead, were the many snaps and snippets from their trip.

One of them showed their hilarious car karaoke session, where they sang “Can You Stand the Rain” by New Edition. “He’s bacckkkk 😂😂 car karaoke with @kiyananthony Tokyo edition….” La La wrote on her IG story.

During this time, Kiyan was also named the No. 1 player in New York for the class of 2025 by ESPN. He has yet to announce his college commitment and will soon gear up for his senior year.

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.