This year, 11 sons of current and former players are regarded as top 50 prospects in their class as per MaxPreps. Recently, the talk of the town from those eleven athletes was Kiyan Anthony. Now that he has chosen to follow his father, Carmelo Anthony’s footsteps at Syracuse, he still has a year on his high school team. Since Long Island Lutheran is yet to start its campaign, another young star has impressed basketball fans and James Harden.

“I seen, you know, Alijah [Arenas] this summer. And he just kind of reminded me of myself in the sense of just, you know, playing against pros and as a junior… in high school,” mentioned Harden. The son of Warriors Star Gilbert Arenas has played three games this season and already averaged 25.3 points. Alijah Arenas is leading the teams in points and assists, and has a healthy FG% of 51%. An Instagram page also uploaded a highlight package of the 17-year-old.

“Alijah Arenas first games of the season.” In the clip, the 3x All-Star’s son can be seen gliding through the court like a knife through butter. Gilbert Arenas’ fiancee “Flying per usual” also shared one such dunk on her stories. Harden attended that game, as it was the 2024 Westside Tip-Off Classic High School Basketball Tournament. Arenas’ team came out on top against Trevor Ariza’s son, Tajh Ariza, and Co., with the 5-star recruit heaving praises from the Clippers star.

“So… I spoke to him (Alijah), said if you ever need something… Reach out and communicate. Workout a couple times…” Clearly, the 2018 MVP is mighty impressed by Gilbert Arenas’ eldest. It seems the NBA community is catching up to the praise as they too, joined the bandwagon to celebrate the 6-foot-4 guard.

Fans’ praise for Alijah Arenas comes at a cost for Kiyan Anthony

When Bronny James announced his NBA draft commitment, it met with a mixed reaction from supporters. Some felt that LeBron James leveraged his position, while others were happy to see the 20-year-old take his place alongside his father. The comparisons are obvious from fans’ perspectives and after the James duo, one even claimed Gilbert and his son being the best father-son duo.

“As of today and I could be wrong unless someone tell me, as far as father/son he’s the best I seen. No other NBA guys kid can touch him.Carmelo son dope but lil Arenas would embarrass him.”

Yes, Kiyan Anthony is a four-star recruit, and in comparison, Alijah Arenas is a five-star recruit. And seeing the highlights, one fan wrote, “It’s like the court is too small, game is easy for this kid…” Let’s not forget for the past two seasons for the Chatsworth Chancellors, he averaged 33 and 30.3 points respectively. So another fan wrote, “Making it loool so easy. Real life ooter.”

At the start of the video, Gilbert Arenas spoke to his son, helping him improve. Seeing this one netizen added, “My lord. Gilbert created a monstar.” His performance from last season earned him the John R. Wooden High School Player of the Year Award, an award which even James Harden earned in 2007. But another fan compared Arenas’ performance to another NBA star, “HE’S MOVING LIKE A PRO!!! HIS PACE IS LUKA-ESQUE.”

As stated earlier, Alijah Arenas is a five-star prospect with 19 offers from top programs like Kansas, UCLA, and Arizona. And is already a hot commodity. So even his announcement might get a similar treatment as Kiyan Anthony. After all, even Gilbert Arenas has his own podcast to help out his son.