“Don't be a follower”: Kiyan Anthony’s mom La La Anthony dishes out advice for son’s upcoming college career

La La Anthony has always found time to support her son, Kiyan Anthony, be it matters of the court or something else. However, the 17-year-old will soon head to Syracuse to begin his college career, resulting in less time with his mother.

With that, the actor shared her advice for the Kiyan while interviewing for an exclusive with Clutch Points' Andrew Korpan released on Wednesday.

"Just be you, be a leader, Don't be a follower," she said. "Be a person that makes your own decisions. Be a person that stands firm in what your beliefs are and don't let people sway you from that."

La La Anthony constantly cheers for her son from the sidelines during his high school games for the Long Island Lutheran. Even though she never trained professionally, she does not shy away from taking on her son 1v1.

Anthony has spearheaded Kiyan Anthony's overall branding. She introduced him to WME Sports, the agency that represents her. It has helped the combo guard add significant NIL opportunities to his portfolio and build his stock as the best player out of New York.

Apart from teaching work ethic through her professional success, La La Anthony has also actively worked on imbibing empathetic values in her son. She led by example through her ThreeSixty prison reform initiative program and her annual Christmas holiday giveaway events.

La La Anthony was more vocally concerned about Kiyan Anthony's growth than Carmelo Anthony

Before Kiyan Anthony announced his decision to join the Syracuse Orange on the "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast in November 2024, La La Anthony talked about a stretch when she was worried about the 17-year-old's basketball growth.

Carmelo Anthony, having played 19 years in the NBA, believed that the combo guard would find his touch with time. However, La La's concerns decreased only when Kiyan began performing well.

"Melo would just be like, 'It's going to happen, it's going to come, it's going to come and I'm like, 'But why isn't that happening now? I'm not seeing the growth,'" she said (at 1:28).

"And then all of a sudden ... and Melo would say it all the time it's like it's just going to start clicking and then it just started clicking and now we're seeing all the hard work and the hours pay off."

Kiyan Anthony had 20 Division I offers last year, which he narrowed down to six in the offseason. The 17-year-old was confused between USC and Syracuse as his landing spot but chose the Orangemen due to the dedicated pursuit of its coach staff.