Carmelo Anthony’s son Kiyan hilariously lies to Jayson Tatum’s face about being able to beat him today

Carmelo Anthony was a player who radiated self-confidence. It’s a good thing his son, Kiyan Anthonycarries himself with the same confidence. While it’s great that he backed himself, the 17-year-old seemed extremely ambitious after claiming that he Jayson Tatum in a 1v1 today… while talking to the Boston Celtics star.

Jayson Tatum seemed to be testing Kiyan Anthony when he asked him an interesting question. Tatum wanted to know if Carmelo’s teenage son believed he was good enough to beat an NBA champion. To everyone’s surprise, Kiyan answered with a brazen “yes.” But then he grinned, admitted he was lying, and paid respect to the superstar.

JT asked, “Do you think you can beat me now?”

Kiyan replied: “Yes… No, I’m lying.”

Shortly before this incident, the high school player put JT to the test. The 6ft 8” forward was asked to predict the score of a hypothetical 1v1 against a top-form Carmelo Anthony. Despite the latter being widely regarded as one of the most dangerous offensive prospects in NBA history, the Celtics’ leader played himself into an 11-8 win.

Kijan: “If you put my dad Carmelo Anthony 1 on 1 in his prime until 11 o’clock, what do you think the score would be?”

Tatum: “When was his best time?”

Kiyan: “Last year about the Nuggets going to the Knicks.”

Tatum: “And me, right after the year I won a championship? Me 11-8.”

Unlike Kiyan, Tatum’s answer seems much more credible.

Based on the two seasons mentioned above, the 2009-2010 Carmelo would be a better scorer than the 2023-2024 Tatum. While Melo averaged 28.2 points, Tatum recorded 26.9. However, of the two, the former Duke Blue Devil has 30.1 points as his highest scoring season (2022-2023) compared to Anthony’s 28.9 points per game during the 2006-2007 season (per Basketball Reference).

It can be hard to pick one out of the two. But this could certainly be an interesting hypothetical clash worth thinking about more in the future.

Kiyan Anthony thinks he can beat 17-year-old Carmelo Anthony

While Kiyan Anthony paid his respects to Jayson Tatum when asked about the outcome of a 1v1 today, the former didn’t hesitate to praise himself as the winner of a confrontation with the 17-year-old version of the latter.

Tatum said: “When I was 17, you were 17…”

Kiyan replied confidently: “I think I would win.”

This isn’t the only time Kiyan has openly claimed to have beaten up a teenage version of an NBA player. Earlier this year, the Long Island Lutheran High School star believed he was going to “fry” a teenage version of his father.

While the 10-time NBA All-Star appreciated his son’s confidence, he simply didn’t agree. Responding to the clip on an episode of his podcast, the New York Knicks legend said:

“See the disrespect, see how he shows disrespect. Are you trying to appease me? Are you trying to appease me? I fuck with the fact that he believes that and he exudes that confidence… Usually at this age you ask a question… It’s like you immediately… This means you’ve thought about it”

Kiyan is a four-star recruit and is ranked 9th^e in his class among all shooting guards, according to ESPN. While he holds offers from top programs like Syracuse and Memphis, the 6-foot-4 youngster is reportedly aiming for a stellar senior year and receiving offers from many more colleges.