The NBA is the pinnacle of basketball competition worldwide. However, sometimes in collegiate and even high school basketball, we see legendary, timeless games and matchups that still send chills up fans’ spines to this day.
The world might be getting another one of those matchups next year when Bronny James and Kiyan Anthony, sons of LBJ and his Lakers teammate Carmelo Anthony, face off.
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Next year in a high school game, Bronny James of Sierra Canyon in the Los Angeles suburbs will battle against Kiyan Anthony and Christ the King, a legendary New York City basketball institution. The West Coast vs. East Coast battle was reportedly requested by LeBron James himself.
The matchup continues old competitive energies as LeBron and Carmelo were the stars of one of the most legendary high school games, where Melo and Oak Hill defeated James and St.Vincent-St.Mary’s, 20 years ago.
20 years after @KingJames and @carmeloanthony faced off against each other in high school, their sons will do the same 🏀
Bronny James and Kiyan Anthony will play vs. each other as Sierra Canyon and Christ the King are expected to play on Jan. 21st, per @Samad_Hines pic.twitter.com/c1eUrHsMlV
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 1, 2022
This game helped James and Melo strengthen their friendship, which they held onto throughout their careers in the NBA. This same bond allows them to play as teammates in L.A. and orchestrate an iconic game between their sons.
This matchup came just in time, because Bronny will be a senior next year and will be moving on from high school basketball after his senior year. Meanwhile, Kiyan is just finishing his freshman year.
Without James intervening to set up this match, we might not be able to see a matchup like this unless LeBron’s younger son Bryce plays against Kiyan himself, or they can meet in the next level of basketball. While there’s a good chance of that happening eventually, many fans want to see their first encounter early on, as it will strengthen the narrative between these young stars.
As we all know now, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony would go on to not only live up to the hype but surpass it as well. The Cleveland Cavaliers selected LeBron No. 1 overall, and Carmelo Anthony went third overall to the Denver Nuggets in the legendary 2003 draft.
Spectators at that 2002 high school game could see that James and Anthony would have impressive careers at the highest level. There will be a lot of eyes watching for the potential in these two as well, looking to see where greatness lies in them.
Hopefully, the game of juniors lives up to the hype that LeBron and Carmelo’s game did. It will be something fans will be talking about for a while — one of these most highly anticipated games of 2023, introducing the potential future of the next round of NBA greats.
