Despite his father, Carmelo Anthony, being a stalwart for USA Basketball, Kiyan Anthony will not be representing the United States at the 2025 Nike Hoop Summit. Instead, the four-star Syracuse signee will be suiting up for the Caribbean US territory of Puerto Rico.
Carmelo is of Puerto Rican descent, while Kiyan's mom, La La, is a full-blooded Puerto Rican. This makes Kiyan of Puerto Rican descent and eligible to represent the U.S. territory during the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland. This has gotten a lot of fans talking.
"None of them talk Spanish melo or lala 😂," one commenter said, although La La speaks Spanish.
"He has a lot of Puerto Rican blood. His mother full blooded Puerto Rican and his father half Puerto Rican," another commenter wrote.
"Go represent! Put on for the PR 🫡" one fan commented.
There were also a lot of Puerto Rican fans who were happy with the decision, especially with Kiyan Anthony being proud of him being of Puerto Rican descent.
"Cómo on kiyan thanks My youngster representing our flag and country," one Puerto Rican fan said.
"I can’t believe the team USA legend Carmelo Anthony let this happen," another fan wrote.
Finally, his maternal grandmother, Carmen Surillo, who is a Puerto Rican, also commented on the news:
"So proud of my grandson @kiyananthony representing 🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷🇵🇷❤️."

The Nike Hoop Summit pits Team USA against several elite hoops teams from across the world. It will happen on April 12 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
La La took Kiyan Anthony to Puerto Rico last year
As for Kiyan, he has been to Puerto Rico before, with his full-blooded mom, La La, who is Afro-Puerto Rican, taking him to the U.S. territory back in August. The actress and TV host posted about it with the caption, "La Familia 🇵🇷."
Among the images La La posted is Kiyan Anthony taking in his Puerto Rican roots, along with herself partying on the island. The mother and son also mingled with some relatives from the island.
La La Anthony has been a vocal supporter of Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are still U.S. citizens despite not being part of the 50 states, although the debate on whether the island should join the Union as the 51st state is still ongoing.