Kiyan Anthony is really intent on continuing the family legacy.
The 18-year-old shooting guard Kiyan, the son of retired former NBA scoring champion Carmelo Anthony, went viral this week over his large new tattoo. The tattoo paid tribute to Carmelo’s memorable run in college.
In 2003, Carmelo led Syracuse University to the national championship as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player. An iconic photo at the time showed Carmelo holding up a newspaper reading, “CHAMPS” after the victory.
Kiyan recently got a sizable tattoo on his left arm in almost the exact same style. But while the tattoo features Carmelo holding up the newspaper, the headline instead reads, “LEGACY.”
Kiyan Anthony shows off new tattoo honoring his dad’s National Championship
(via @inkednba, h/t @sportyspicce) pic.twitter.com/m5hqlV7xdh
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 12, 2025
That is obviously a fitting tattoo for Kiyan. Most notably, he himself decided to commit to Syracuse for college earlier this year and is about to begin his freshman season with them. Kiyan chose to carry on his father’s legacy and picked Syracuse over several other big-name programs.
A consensus four-star recruit, Kiyan is the only child of the 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo and his ex-wife La La Anthony. Kiyan stands 6-foot-5 and averaged 15.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest as a senior last season for Long Island Lutheran in Brookville, N.Y. Now Kiyan is remaining in the state and will be suiting up for the alma mater of his father Carmelo, who was predictably plenty pleased about Kiyan’s decision to commit to Syracuse.