LeBron James' 2 words hype 'nephew' Kiyan Anthony's MVP night at Hoophall

Kiyan Anthony, son of Carmelo Anthony, caused a buzz in the basketball world after being named MVP of the Hoophall Classic and even LeBron James could not help but be hyped. Anthony scored 17 points for Long Island Lutheran, leading them to a 63-57 win against AZ Compass Prep on Sunday.

Anthony went 5-for-10 from the field and also blocked one shot as he led his team to victory.

James went on to his Instagram account to heap praise on Anthony for winning the game's MVP award. In James' post, he made it clear that he considered Anthony like family.

"Yeah nephew!!!! @kiyananthony," James wrote.

LeBron James hypes up Kiyan Anthony (Photo credits: kingjames/Instagram)

Kiyan Anthony would also go on to repost the story to his own Instagram account.

Bryce James, LeBron James' son, also put up a huge performance prior to Anthony's. Bryce's Sierra Canyon took on Grayson High School and while he came off the bench and saw only 17 minutes of action, he still dominated.

Bryce scored 16 points, grabbed five boards and came away with four steals. Sierra Canyon won 60-46 and James' youngest son was named the game MVP for his performance. His father shared how proud he was via a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Bryce James will play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats after committing to play there earlier this month.

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LeBron James called Kiyan Anthony his nephew when he committed to play for Syracuse

Kiyan Anthony is headed to play for Syracuse, the same college that his father, Carmelo Anthony, played for. Kiyan announced his decision on a November 2024 episode of the "7 PM in Brooklyn" podcast, which Carmelo hosts.

Later on, Carmelo posted an edited video of Kiyan's announcement along with some of his highlights.

The post, which was made on Instagram, garnered over 120,000 likes as well as several comments. Among the people who commented was LeBron James, who called Kiyan his nephew.

"Yessir nephew!!!" James said.

LeBron's comments on Kiyan's announcement that he's joining Syracuse (Photo credits: carmeloanthony/Instagram)

LeBron and Kiyan are not biologically related. However, LeBron and Carmelo have been close friends dating back to their high school days, and LeBron has been an uncle figure for Kiyan.

As for Kiyan, he will have some big shoes to fill. Carmelo also attended Syracuse for a year during the 2002-03 season and led them to a national championship. He scored 22.2 points per game on 45.3/33.7/70% splits. He also averaged a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds per game.

Following his strong showing in college, Carmelo went on to have a 19-year NBA career. He averaged 22.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 2.7 apg and was a 10-time All-Star. He spent his final season with the LA Lakers (2021-22) where he got to play with LeBron James.