Carmelo and Kiyan Anthony — Like Father, Like Son
Carmelo Anthony is widely known as one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history. Will his son follow in his footsteps?
Read the full story in Justsmile Issue 6, Eyes on the Prize.
Photography Rahim Fortune
Styling Mobolaji Dawodu
Text Lawrence Burney
Carmelo (left) wears jacket BURBERRY. T-shirt TODD SNYDER. Pants and hat STONE ISLAND. Necklace and bracelet DAVID YURMAN. Watch CARTIER. Sunglasses Carmelo’s own. Kiyan (right) wears jacket and pants STONE ISLAND. Sunglasses FERRARI.
Twenty-two springs ago, an 18-year-old Carmelo Anthony and the rest of his team at Syracuse University achieved what very few thought they could, which was winning the school’s first men’s basketball championship in its then 105-year history.
This isn’t to say that anyone doubted Carmelo’s personal abilities as an athlete. He entered the season as the second-highest-ranked high school player in the country, in fact, and regularly justified the distinction by employing an impressive combination of perimeter shooting and relentless activity in the paint. What fans and analysts didn’t anticipate was that a team with three other freshmen in its starting lineup would overpower squads with much more seasoned players. But that’s exactly what they did and, because of it, the 2003 Syracuse Orange are celebrated as one of the best stories to ever come out of March Madness—a popular nickname for the Division I basketball tournament that happens every spring.
Carmelo wears jacket and pants STONE ISLAND. T-shirt TODD SNYDER. Bracelet and ring DAVID YURMAN. Watch CARTIER.
‘It’s crazy. Even though that’s my pops, that’s still one of my favorite players.’ – Kiyan Anthony
The historic run also set Melo up for an NBA career that ended with him being considered one of the greatest to ever play the game. “Man, I’m locked into the tournament right now,” he tells me when we first hop on a video call this past March, just hours after 2025’s race to the championship kicked off. Relaxed in demeanor, he’s in his New York City office which, through the screen, appears to be a beautifully spacious loft with an open floor plan, wooden ceiling beams, and exposed brick on the walls. Since he played his last NBA game in 2022, the ten-time all-star has made the most of his time away from the court. 7PM in Brooklyn, the podcast he launched in late 2023 with help from New York City comedian and media personality The Kid Mero, has worked its way to becoming one of the more popular basketball-focused YouTube shows led by former athletes. They invite retired stars like Rudy Gay and Dwyane Wade on to talk about pressing issues surrounding the sport, but also find time for good laughs; one of the show’s more hilarious moments came recently when Melo and D-Wade laughed uncontrollably at a video of Joe Budden playing a hard-to-watch pickup game with his podcast mates. Outside of the entertainment space, post-retirement Melo has also stepped into the cannabis industry, started a wine company, and opened a foundation. For someone whose schedule had been packed for the majority of his life with athletics, Anthony has found a seamless way to keep himself busy.
Read the full story in Justsmile Issue 6, available to order here.
Kiyan wears jacket, t-shirt and pants STONE ISLAND.
‘I love when he comes to me like, “Dad, what happened when you were 18?” That’s how I was when I was growing up, talking to my uncles and cousins.’ - Carmelo Anthony
Kiyan (left) wears jacket and pants WILLY CHAVARRIA. Sweater STONE ISLAND. Carmelo (right) wears shirt and pants FEAR OF GOD. Bracelet DAVID YURMAN. Watch CARTIER. Sunglasses and hat Carmelo’s own.
