From red carpet rugrat to the top prospect in NYC, Boardroom explores why the aura around Carmelo and La La’s storied son is much more than hoopla.
A decade back, an industry exec at a massive sportswear company called LaMelo Ball the “Justin Bieber of basketball.”
If that’s the case, Kiyan Anthony may be the Jaden Smith of summer streetball or the Brooklyn Beckham of The Five Boroughs.
The most magnetic teen in Long Island since Rakim Allah, Kiyan calls the Kardashians kinfolk while still seeing props where drill rap reigns. He’s as relevant at Rucker Park as he is at SoHo shops, deep in both bags in the best way possible.
Raised by the most famous parents on this side of Mary and Joseph, the private school prospect is glowingly rising above his peers, actively facing a YouTube series with multiple millions of views and fronting a clothing company already claiming six figures in sales.
Still, a single digit means the most to Kiyan in 2024: No. 1.
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Over a jetsetting summer highlighted by Dyckman dunks, streetwear pop-ups, and the Paris parquet, Kiyan climbed to top dog status in the concrete jungle, earning a No. 1 ranking among all high school seniors in New York City. When considering a sophomore season spent on the bench at Queens powerhouse Christ the King, the LuHi hooper’s lauded leap is a unique blend of both grind and growth spurt.
“He’s hitting me up to workout four to five times a week,” NBA trainer Chris Brickley told Boardroom. “He took things into his own hands, from scheduling lifting, workouts, and games. He’s recently reached the level of really committing himself.”
It’s also a new narrative in a sporting space and a market once dominated by early bloomers and economic underdogs.
“What we have now is the offspring,” sports marketing legend Sonny Vaccaro told Boardroom. “He is in the middle of a flow that is the perfect time. His abilities as an athlete and his personality can multiply and take over. As far as the shoe companies? They’re lining up.”
Blurring the lines between baller and influencer, Kiyan has juice in The Big Apple and top colleges at his feet. As head coaches, sneaker brands, and fashion labels bid behind the scenes on the teen titan, Boardroom explores how the most marketable kid in hoops is shifting the paradigm.
Meet the Parents
Kiyan Anthony is to New York City what Prince Harry is to Wales.
The spawn of La La Anthony — a Brooklyn-bred media multihyphenate with 14.9 million Instagram followers and hundreds of IMDb credits — and Carmelo Anthony — a New York Knicks great with three Olympic Gold medals and 13 signature shoes from Air Jordan — Kiyan came into the world with an audience.
Getty Images serves as a scrapbook for Kiy, showcasing baby pictures in the lap of Ciara, childhood memories made courtside with Swizz Beatz, and sideline shots with Jeremy Lin.
“He was shooting at halftime of [Knicks] games,” Brickley said. “I’ve never seen any kids doing that.”
(Bruce Glikas / FilmMagic)
(Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)
By age 7, Kiyan arrived at Nickelodeon red carpets in his own unreleased Air Jordan 11 PEs. When most kids were learning multiplication, he hit Power premieres with his mom, posing for pics next to Meek Mill.
At only 17, he’s amassed nearly 1 million followers on Instagram and nearly a half million on TikTok. Prior to popping as a top-ranked recruit on the court, Overtime offered him his own reality show, built off of fame and fashion as much as AAU battles.
“What’s special about Kiyan is that despite the first two things you might think about him — famous mom, famous dad, which is totally unrelatable to 99% of the population — he is one of the most relatable kids you could ever work with,” Tyler Rutstein, Chief Brand Officer and Head of Commerce at Overtime, told Boardroom.
Though these intangibles make him pop online, it’s a native energy that adds to his intrigue.
“He’s so New York,” said Rutstein. “He has a New York accent and this aura about him that our audience at Overtime looks up to. He has this relatability and swag factor that makes him loved.”
Truth be told, Kiyan’s access to elite-level tournaments and high-fashion shopping make him enviable to a sea of teens who consume hoop and lifestyle content feverishly on YouTube. However, beneath the Team Melo tank and glistening chain is a level of rizz and resonance that’s more comparable to Twitch superstar Kai Cenat than, say, Cooper Flagg.
“You look at him like, ‘He could be my friend. He might be my best friend. I’d love to kick it with Kiyan, hoop with Kiyan, watch a movie with Kiyan,'” Rutstein said. “The toughest thing for a superstar athlete with a famous mom or dad is to have some normalness to them.”
This type of praise isn’t just from kids in comment sections but the adults who mentor him daily.
“The reason Kiy is so special is because he’s not entitled at all,” Jay David, who coaches Kiyan at LuHi, told Boardroom. “He works really, really hard, and he’s one of the nicest kids. He’s special because he has such a dope smile, and he works really hard. That’s what makes him different.”
Although the last name and hoop dreams draw comparisons to his famous father, it’s La La — a local legend with pivots that rival Carmelo’s Hall of Fame footwork — that deserves credit for Kiyan’s charisma on camera.
“He’s taken from his mother a lot,” Brickley said. “He spends a lot of time with his mom, and his mom is super influential. She’s best friends with Kim Kardashian and heavy in the scene.”
“La La is in showbusiness and I like their approach of building his brand,” Mike Kaufman, Head of Social Strategy at Overtime, told Boardroom. “He’s a star. Is he gonna be a first-round draft pick in a couple of years? We don’t know when he’ll be picked but we know he’s a star.”
Arriving as an influencer before becoming basketball’s best high school senior in New York is a plot twist TV studios couldn’t write. However, it’s one that’s playing out online and in parks right before our eyes.
Asphalt Ascent
Thirty years ago, when Rafer Alston rose from Cardozo dropout to SLAM cover star, only those with an ear to Queens concrete or atop the Polo Grounds projects surrounding Harlem’s Rucker Park knew anything of the storybook life Skip 2 My Lou was living.
Coming of age in an era of bloodsport streetball and harsher realities at home, Rafer, much like Pearl Washington before him or Sebastian Telfair after, arose from poverty as an NBA draftee with five boroughs behind him.
“New York’s legacy is basketball,” said Vacarro, a man well-weaved into the story of both Bassy and Skip in some sense. “It always has been. Physically, it’s such a small area. But mentally and socially? It’s the world.”
In 2024, Kiyan Anthony plays ball in the same city as said stars before him, but in an entirely different reality.
Born into affluence and already earning off of influence, Kiyan never has to run a suicide or shoot 1,000 jumpers in a day to survive. All the while, he’s been bit by the same bug that took Telfair to the state championship and got Melo out of Baltimore.
“He goes and plays with his boys at West 4th,” said Kaufman. “Most high-level basketball players don’t really want to play outside. He’s like, ‘I’m from New York. I’ve got to play at West 4th, I’ve got to play at Dyckman, I’ve got to play at Rucker.’ And he’s played very well at these parks.”
“SLAM Classic at Rucker has basically become the McDonald’s Game for the culture,” Griffin Taylor, co-founder and CEO of The Program NYC, told Boardroom. “One thing that Kiyan has done a phenomenal job is that he goes outside and he plays in those summer tournaments.”
Not only has that improved his game and ranking, but it’s also endeared him to the most important market in North America.
“As much as things have changed, there is still the allure of New York City,” said Rutstein. “That only amplifies the brand of Kiyan. The fact that he’s pulled up to the Dyckman and Ruckers of the world? It adds to his aura. It’s part of his brand DNA.”
“New Yorkers can see, touch, and feel him in those grassroots streetball events,” said Taylor. “[It’s] only added to his credibility as the face of New York City basketball for this upcoming class.”
By becoming battle-tested on the same blacktop courts that made Alimoe and Kemba Walker fan favorites, Kiyan is carrying a torch even if he’s arriving in car service. Recently, many of the best ballers to make it out of NYC come from upper-middle-class upbringings, like NCAA champion-turned-pro point guard Ty Jerome or McDonald’s All-American slash second-generation spark plug Cole Anthony.
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For decades, sons of former pros have followed their father’s footsteps into the family business of basketball, from Steph Curry surpassing Dell Curry’s legacy to Kobe Bryant becoming better than Joe “Jellybean” Bryant could’ve ever imagined. Though Kiyan’s high school status sits somewhere between two second-generation MVPs, his pedigree and proximity to resources reign supreme over those known names.
“Kobe’s dad was very, very good,” said Vaccaro. “But not as good as Carmelo.”
Perfect Timing
Had Kiyan Anthony been born earlier into Carmelo’s career, or had the Denver departure never happened, the stars may not have aligned in the cosmic fashion they shine now.
A 2011 trade to the New York Knicks made Madison Square Garden the perfect playground for a young Kiyan, turning Brickley, a rising team trainer at the time, into an uncle of sorts. While Melo may have left NYC in 2017, both Brickley and Kiyan stayed put, presenting a running relationship to train at their own pace and accelerate the gas once the proud pops retired and returned home.
“[Melo] never pushed it,” said Brickley. “A few years back? If Kiyan was going through the motions and wasn’t going hard, Melo wouldn’t say anything. It was a weird dynamic, but Melo just let Kiyan figure it out for himself. Eventually, Kiyan got it. He’s truly super motivated, and it’s a great thing to see.”
While Melo may have let Kiyan figure out the progress part, he’s handled his end of the bargain on presence.
“I’ve watched Kiyan play 25 times in total between EYBL, LuHi games, and summer streetball tournaments,” Taylor said. “24 out of those 25 times? His dad was there. It didn’t matter what time of day, what city, or what else in pop culture was happening. I’ve never not seen Melo at a game.”
That sentiment is not just seen by onlookers but stamped by the rising recruit himself.
“Now that he retired? He really dedicated basically his life to supporting me,” Kiyan told Rivals in 2024. “All of my trips, all of my basketball stuff, even if it’s not basketball, he’s there. I’m forever grateful for that. He keeps me in the gym. Without him? I don’t know if I’d be invited to [USA] Camp or as good as I am right now.”
In essentially two summers — the same ones Melo has been retired from the league — Kiyan’s status and stock have raised exponentially, as has his ability. Case and point: Anthony showed up to the ACES Elite Classic in May, not even ranked in the Top 70 or 80 just yet, and dropped nearly 50 points in a game that included six McDonald’s All-Americans in the game.
“He gets better and better every year; it seems like every month,” Brian Kortovich, CEO and founder of ACES, told Boardroom.
“I don’t know if anyone on the grassroots circuit has made more leaps year over year than he has,” Taylor added on Kiyan. “If there’s a most improved player on Nike EYBL it’s probably him, and he’s probably won it the last two years in a row.”
“Two years ago, he was like 170th in the rankings, then last year, he was at like [No.] 70,” said Brickley. “Currently, he’s maybe in the 30s? He’s just moving his way up. I wouldn’t be surprised if once it’s time to call McDonald’s All-Americans, he’s on that list.”
It’s not unusual for a high school hooper to hit growth spurts and strides that make them rise in the rankings, but it is unprecedented for said prospect to already be famous before it. Though hailing from drastically different backgrounds and ascending in unrelated industries, Kiyan’s climb is almost akin to Cardi B: a Washington Heights hero who went from viral personality to Grammy-winning MC.
Having an origin story is as much the allure as the talent when it comes to Anthony — and the heat he holds in New York and among potential partners.
Stakes is High
This season, Kiyan Anthony will be on full display as he leads LuHi against the likes of Oak Hill and Sierra Canyon by day while sitting courtside at Knicks games by night. The NBA app will stream Kiyan’s pre-season scrimmage with the LI Crusaders on Oct. 26 as his school headlines the ACES Hustle & Heart showcase.
Currently courting offers from Syracuse, USC, and Auburn — all Nike programs — he’ll play his senior year out as the main attraction in Swoosh’s amateur circuit. And he’ll be doing it all in New York while running a streetwear line, starring in an Overtime series, and wearing a target on his back that comes with being the son of a pro and top-ranked player in the state.
“What he’s doing right now is auditioning for his future,” said Vaccaro. “He’s now on Broadway. It’s a show, and other people are auditioning.”
“You’re gonna get everyone’s best shot, so you can’t have an off day mentally or physically,” said Kortovich. “He’s built for the moment. He’s seen what his father went through, so it’s not pressure if you’ve seen it since Day 1.”
Among the spoken-to sources, strength and physicality are commonly called out as Kiyan’s biggest areas to improve in, while scoring and work ethic are considered mainly to be his greatest gifts. To take his game to higher heights, he’ll have to ascend all season and select a college that showcases his ability to put the ball in the basket while fortifying his potential to play a role should he go pro.
Despite low expectations headed into high school, Kiyan’s ceiling looks higher heading out. Research suggests that the children of pros are often underrated and outperform peers at the highest level. Given Kiy’s access to EYBL competition and NBA training, he’s already sharpening skills with tools the average high school star can’t touch.
“This summer, I was having him play one-on-one against NBA guys, and he was doing some of the same moves Melo does,” said Brickley. “But he’s more of a guard. If he can get to 6-7, 6-8 or 6-9? He’s gonna have that Paul George, super tall wing with guard skillset. That’s his favorite player and a reference we go off of a lot.”
When considering the constellation of comps and famous family members, they all have one thing in common: a signature shoe series.
On the footwear front, Brickley believes Jordan Brand will make an offer, while Kaufman notes Kiy’s fashion-forward preference to rotate runners from Asics and New Balance off the court. On the apparel side, Kiy’s already done a deal with underwear company PSD and hosted meet-and-greets for his brand, One Way, which has attracted fans from Dubai. Acting as an ambassador, Overtime‘s apparel business is said to do over $20 million annually, with Kiyan clothing content continually ringing off where engagement is concerned.
When it comes to companies courting Kiyan, the brands will be negotiating with parents who’ve done deals in Hollywood and a kid who doesn’t need a check. Dropping 50-balls his senior season will up the price, but it’s Kiyan’s online presence that sets the floor.
“With social media? There are those guys who maybe haven’t panned out as NBA stars but have the ability to be stars in their own right,” said Kaufman. “If Kiyan ends up being a role player in the NBA? He still might be getting endorsement deals because he has such a high brand. PJ Tucker is the ultimate role player, but he’s the sneaker god of the NBA. The best player isn’t the most popular necessarily.”
For Kiyan to follow in his father’s $40 million footsteps, he’d have to have the best freshman season in decades while taking his online following to Travis Scott heights. Those are not the expectations nor the reality. Simply put, staying on the same trajectory on and off the court will keep him large, both locally and nationally.
“All he has to do is be a kid who can play pretty darn good and have a personality,” Vaccaro said. “New York will help him get bigger. You’re going to get shoe companies by the ten dozen. He’s a well-known name.”
Until then, he’ll have camera crews follow him to photoshoots while famous adults and everyday kids compose his inner circle. Big brands and rising talent will all target him, while the Mecca that made him will watch and support every move.
“Kiyan grew up in New York City,” said David. “He went to middle school here, he’s from here, and he knows what it is. There’s a certain level of energy that is second to none when it comes to New York. Kiyan knows that, embraces it, and goes out and does what he does.”
For the first time in his life, the aura is all his, with his lauded last name only overshadowed by the city’s crown.
“It’s his right now for sure,” said Brickley. “I’ve worked with Cole Anthony, Hamidou Diallo, Isaiah Briscoe, and Lance Stephenson. I’ve seen all of them. His father is a legend, and his mother is a superstar. He’s super unique and none of us can really understand fully what that’s like for him.”
Rather unique, indeed.
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