“This is nothing what you’re dealing with” – Carmelo Anthony on the hardships his son Kiyan went through in freshman year at Syracuse

Carmelo Anthony is undoubtedly one of the best basketball players to ever play for Syracuse after delivering one of the greatest freshman seasons in college basketball history, leading the program to its first and only national championship.

His impact on Syracuse has never faded, which is why his son, Kiyan Anthony, arrived on campus carrying the insane legacy he built, leading to far more expectations placed on a typical freshman.

Advertisement

Those expectations have unfortunately put Kiyan’s freshman season under much more pressure than it should have, especially during his highly publicized benching. This has led Melo to juggle two hats: a father and the Syracuse great whose son is being unfairly compared in every game.

However, despite the criticism, Melo believes Kiyan’s freshman season, which many fans view as a disappointment, was a natural learning curve for any player out of high school, and one he is actively helping his son learn to deal with.

“To see him deal with his freshman year this way, I sat back, and I really wanted to see how he was going to handle it,” Melo said. “This is nothing what you’re dealing with.”

Advertisement

“You’re 18 years old, you coming into one of the biggest colleges, and there’s a lot of history there. Your father did it. The name is on the building, like this is stamped in and etched in stone for life. So there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that. So, I want to see how he handled that,” he added.

A natural rocky start

Kiyan’s freshman year was marked by inconsistent playing time and questions about whether he truly deserved to be in the program, despite being a 4-star recruit in high school. He averaged 8.0 points while playing 18.7 minutes per game. Despite this, Melo really doesn’t believe the season was a failure.

Advertisement

The elder Anthony rejected the idea that the season was automatically a disappointment simply because Kiyan did not become a star player. For him, it was a natural thing that freshman players go through,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nothing-youre-dealing-carmelo-anthony-171100779.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-05-23 17:11:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.