Bronny James‘ No. 25-ranked Sierra Canyon take on Kiyan Anthony’s No. 22-ranked Christ the King. Bronny and Kiyan are the sons of NBA legends LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, respectively. Bron, Melo, Savannah, La La, Kim and Khloé Kardashian were all in attendance to watch these future NBA hoopers ball out.
There were other famous people in attendance, including former NBA players Kenyon Martin, Nick Young and John Lucas III. Current Los Angeles Lakers Scotty Pippen Jr. and Cole Swider also were on hand. Hall of Famer and Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen was also in attendance to see his son Justin Pippen who plays for Sierra Canyon.
Radio host Big Boy, “Basketball Wives” star Laura Govan and Natalia Bryant, eldest daughter of late NBA legend Kobe Bryant were also in attendance.
Bronny’s Sierra Canyon won the game 62-51 improving to 7-1 on the year. James finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The loss drops Christ the King to 2-2. Kiyan Anthony finished with eight points.
The game has changed and high school basketball at this level has the notoriety and following like never before. Especially when the high school ranks are littered with the progeny of NBA royalty.
For Bronny and Kiyan hopefully they’ll be allowed to develop on their own timetable into whatever the best versions of themselves as players and humans are.
Bronny is a senior and has scholarship offers to consider as well as possibly the G League. But the reality is, he’s always going to be compared to his father, and that is unfair. He is nowhere near the prospect his father was in 2003, and that’s OK. LeBron was the consensus No. 1 overall pick as early as his junior year.
Kiyan, a sophomore, has a little more time to develop, but following in dad Melo’s footsteps won’t be easy either. Melo was a high school All-American, a McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American. He starred at Syracuse University as a freshman and led them to the national title and was named Most Outstanding Player. Melo was drafted third in the same NBA class as LeBron.
Melo still loves the game and would consider continuing his career.
“I love the game, I will say that,” Anthony said Monday night to ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “But I realize there’s a lot of things not in my control. So I can just sit back and let it play out and whatever it’s going to be, it’s going to be, and I accept that. I’m at peace with that.
“I’m cool … I get to watch my kids … I get to watch my son play, train him, be around him, go to his games. So these are the things that for a long time I haven’t had a chance to do. So now I can be that father and the man I need to be. So I’m cool, man. I would love to play, I love the game, I’m still in the gym every single day. If the opportunity presents itself, it presents itself, but it’s not something I’m pressing about.”
Bron and Melo battled in high school, the NBA, won gold medals together on Team USA and were teammates on the Lakers last season.
That’s a lot for the sons to try and live up to, and they shouldn’t have to.
