Kiyan Anthony is an American college basketball player, a shooting guard for the Syracuse Orange, and the son of NBA legend and Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony.
He grew up surrounded by basketball royalty, the child of one of the NBA’s all-time leading scorers and La La Anthony, one of the entertainment industry’s most recognisable figures in her own right.
On November 15, 2024, he committed to Syracuse University, the same school where his father won the only NCAA championship in the program’s history in 2003, announcing his decision live on his father’s 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast.
He debuted for the Orange on November 2, 2025, scoring 15 points in his first collegiate game. He averaged 8 points per game during his freshman season.
His new head coach for the 2026–27 season is Gerry McNamara, who was Carmelo Anthony’s teammate and close friend on the 2003 championship squad.
The Anthony name is back at Syracuse, carrying a legacy while trying to build something new on top of it.
Kiyan Anthony Biography
He was born on March 7, 2007, in New York City, to Carmelo Kyam Anthony and Alani Nicole Anthony, better known to the world as La La Anthony.
Kiyan Carmelo Anthony grew up primarily in New York City, where both of his parents have strong connections and where his mother, La La, has built her own media and entertainment career independently of her relationship with Carmelo.
He attended two high schools during his development. He began at Long Island Lutheran School in Brookville, New York, before transferring to Christ the King Regional High School in Queens, New York, one of the country’s most celebrated basketball high schools, which has produced numerous NBA players and college stars.
At Christ the King, he developed under strong basketball coaching into a genuine top-40 national recruit, earning his father’s jersey number, 7, which he now wears at Syracuse.
Kiyan stands at 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs approximately 185 pounds. A shooting guard, he possesses the size, wingspan, and athleticism to project as a professional prospect.
He plays primarily as a shooting guard and is described by recruiting analysts as more than just a shooter, possessing the vision, passing instincts and defensive awareness that his father, Carmelo, notably lacked early in his career.
He is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University.
Career
Kiyan Anthony’s high school basketball career established him as one of New York’s most talented players and one of the country’s top-40 recruits across multiple national rankings.
At Christ the King Regional in Queens, he averaged 10.3 points and 2.4 assists per game during the 2023–24 season, developing the all-around game that gave recruiting analysts confidence in his college and professional potential beyond his name recognition.
His ability to create off the dribble, shoot from range and facilitate for teammates distinguished him from one-dimensional shooters and helped establish him as a well-rounded prospect.
He was ranked 36th overall in the class of 2025 by ESPN, 32nd by 247Sports and among the top 40 shooting guards nationally.
He was named Mr. New York Basketball in 2025, one of the state’s most prestigious high school basketball honours, recognising him as one of New York’s leading players that season.
He also won the Jordan Brand Classic MVP award in 2025, performing at a high level in one of high school basketball’s most celebrated all-star showcase events.
He held offers from Syracuse, USC, Auburn, Florida State, Memphis, George Mason, Bryant and Manhattan before narrowing his choice to Syracuse, USC and Auburn in his final deliberations. His college commitment announcement was particularly memorable.
On November 15, 2024, he chose Syracuse on his father’s 7 PM in Brooklyn podcast, a show Carmelo hosts that gave the announcement a deeply personal and family-oriented character.
He told ESPN after the announcement: “Ultimately, it came down to my relationship with the staff. From day one, when they started recruiting me, they made me feel like it was family. My dad’s name on the facility is special, but I want to go in there and create my own name, and I’ve already done that through my dedication in the offseason, with early morning practices.”
The statement set the tone for his Syracuse chapter: honouring his family’s legacy while remaining determined to create something uniquely his own.
Syracuse: Freshman Season
Kiyan Anthony enrolled at Syracuse University for the 2025–26 academic year wearing the No. 7 jersey, a nod to his family and a statement of his own identity within a program his father helped transform two decades earlier.
His collegiate debut on November 2, 2025, against the Binghamton Bearcats generated significant national attention.
He scored 15 points, grabbed three rebounds and added three assists in an 85–47 victory, an impressive debut performance that immediately delivered on some of the considerable expectations attached to his arrival.
His first start came against Delaware State, where he posted 19 points, three rebounds and four assists, shooting 8-for-11 from the field and 2-for-4 from three-point range.
The Delaware State performance was one of the standout individual performances of his early Syracuse career. Other notable early-season performances included a team-high 18 points at Drexel, where he shot 7-for-12 from the field, and 18 points against Northeastern.
He contributed consistently during the first half of the season, establishing himself as one of the team’s important offensive players despite his freshman status.
He played 24 minutes and contributed eight points against Iowa State and recorded 10 points in multiple additional appearances. The second half of the season proved more challenging.
He was benched against Virginia in February 2026, a significant setback that generated discussion about his development and role within the Syracuse program.
Carmelo Anthony responded publicly on social media after the benching, writing: “He’ll be good! They say it’s part of the journey. A little adversity don’t hurt.”
His father’s calm and supportive public response demonstrated both confidence in his son’s resilience and an understanding that freshman-year challenges are a normal part of basketball development.
He finished his freshman season averaging 8 points per game, a respectable figure for a freshman on a team that struggled overall.
Syracuse finished the 2025–26 season with 17 losses and failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, a disappointing outcome for a program with the history and expectations of the Orange.
The team’s struggles created questions about Kiyan’s future with the program and whether he would declare for the 2026 NBA Draft or return for a sophomore season.
In April 2026, Kiyan announced his decision to return to Syracuse for his sophomore season, a choice that analysts described as wise given the availability of NIL opportunities in college and the genuine development work still to be done before he reaches NBA readiness.
His decision to stay was significantly influenced by the announcement of Gerry McNamara as the new Syracuse head coach, a development with profound personal resonance.
McNamara was Carmelo Anthony’s teammate on the 2003 national championship squad and has maintained a close relationship with the Anthony family.
Decades later, Kiyan now has the chance to create his own chapter in the same uniform under a coach who understands the Syracuse legacy and his family’s connection to the program.
Parents
Kiyan Anthony’s parents, Carmelo Anthony and La La Anthony, were one of the most celebrated couples at the intersection of professional sport and entertainment for more than a decade before their separation.
Carmelo Kyam Anthony grew up between Baltimore, Maryland, and Brooklyn and emerged as one of the most gifted offensive players in basketball history.
He played one season at Syracuse University in 2002–03, winning the NCAA Championship and being named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament before entering the 2003 NBA Draft as the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets, behind LeBron James and Darko Miličić.
He went on to play 19 NBA seasons for the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 28,289 career points to rank among the top 10 all-time scorers in NBA history.
He was selected to 10 NBA All-Star Games and was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.
On September 6, 2025, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in a ceremony attended by Kiyan, who posed for photographs with his father that went viral across basketball social media.
It was one of the most significant family moments in Kiyan’s young life, as he sat courtside while his father was formally recognised as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Alani Nicole Anthony, known professionally as La La Anthony, was born on June 25, 1982, in Brooklyn, New York. She built her career as a television personality, actress, model and author, hosting and appearing on numerous television programmes and developing an entertainment profile that is genuinely impressive independent of her relationship with Carmelo.
She and Carmelo separated in 2021 after 11 years of marriage, with their divorce finalised in 2023. Both have remained deeply committed to co-parenting Kiyan and supporting his basketball development throughout every stage of his career.
Kiyan also has a half-sister named Genesis Harlo Anthony, born in 2017, who is Carmelo’s daughter with model Mia Burks.
Kiyan Anthony’s Net Worth
Kiyan Anthony’s net worth is estimated at $500,000. College athletes are now permitted to earn money through name, image and likeness agreements with brands and sponsors.
A player with Kiyan’s profile, the son of a Hall of Famer, a top-40 national recruit and a player at one of college basketball’s most storied programmes, is an attractive commercial partner for brands seeking to reach basketball audiences.
Analysts generally place top-40 recruits at major programmes in the range of six-figure annual NIL packages, depending on their specific commercial partnerships.
His father, Carmelo’s network and the Anthony family’s extensive connections in sport, entertainment and media give Kiyan access to NIL opportunities that most college athletes cannot access.
Carmelo Anthony has an estimated net worth of $160 million, reflecting his career earnings from 19 NBA seasons with major-market teams, combined with endorsement income from brands including Jordan Brand, where he has had one of basketball’s longest-running athlete relationships.
