Carmelo Anthony’s son Kiyan Anthony might have just given his dad one of the best tributes of all time. As he follows his dad’s footsteps by committing to Syracuse, Kiyan honored Melo with a ”Syracuse legacy” tattoo – the famous picture of Melo holding up a newspaper after winning the NCAA title in 2003.
Kiyan Anthony linked up with Canada-based tattoo artist Steve Wiebe for this piece of work. Wiebe is a renowned tattoo artist, also followed by NBA stars DeAndre Jordan, Jalen Green, and Devin Booker on Instagram. The tattoo was featured on the IG page @inkednba, that described it as ‘one of the hardest tributes.’ As good as the tattoo looks, the fans are having mixed reactions to this.
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Some fans noticed how Carmelo Anthony doesn’t even look like himself on this tattoo. And they had some of the hilarious reactions pouring out in the comments.
“That don’t even look like Melo wtf,” one fan said.
“Got Melo lookin like Bucky from Fat Albert 😭,” another fan wrote.
“Who’s going to tell him he got a tat of Kwame Brown,” one fan added.
However, some fans did find the tattoo quite appealing and seemed impressed.
“Extremely Tough,” one fan wrote.
“Nah this is crazy tough 🔥,” another fan added.
“Incredible execution 🎯,” one fan said.
Kiyan Anthony will be joining Syracuse as a top-40 recruit in the 2025 class. As much as his father’s legacy inspired him to join Syracuse, Kiyan says that his decision was also based on his strong relationship with the coaching staff, especially head coach Adrian Autry’s welcoming approach. It would be interesting to see if Kiyan is able to live up to his father’s legacy both in college hoops, and later in the NBA as well.
Kiyan Anthony joined Syracuse because it was closer to his home
While many fans already believe Kiyan Anthony’s decision is based on following his father’s footsteps, the real reason for choosing Syracuse might surprise many. Appearing on the “Close Friends Only with Instagram” show with his father Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan said his reason was to stay closer to home.
“I feel like I chose Syracuse because my last two was between Syracuse and USC. So, obviously Syracuse is closer to home, has good coaching staff, good group of players that coming with me. Obviously, you (Carmelo Anthony) went there, so it’s an opportunity to follow your footsteps,” Kiyan said. (18:10)
This was a one-on-one conversation between Kiyan and Melo, where he also understood about his father’s experience in the same college. For Melo, being at Syracuse was a first-hand opportunity playing hoops as a freshman. The community around him shaped his identity as a player, helping him become the Hall of Fame legend that we now know him as today.
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