It was a significant weekend for Carmelo Anthony and his basketball career legacy. The former Nuggets player got inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday (Sept. 6), and brought his children, Kiyan and Genesis Anthony, with him for the moment! As he made his way into the venue, the Associated Press reports that “Melo! Melo!” chants welcomed him. Anthony retired from the NBA in 2023 with a bittersweet video on social media.
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Carmelo Anthony Credits His Son & Daughter In Speech
As soon as he touched the stage at the induction, Anthony appeared emotionally overwhelmed. He teared up over the energy in the air and the full-circle moment of reaching the basketball Hall of Fame against all the odds stacked against him growing up in Brooklyn and Baltimore.
“Tonight I just don’t step into the Hall of Fame, I carry the echoes of every voice that ever told me I couldn’t. I walk with the shadows of every alley, every cracked court, every empty plate. I stand for the dreamers, the doubted, the dismissed, for every soul trapped in a place where I broke free from…I had to build a new road. I had to write a new ending,” Anthony reportedly said.
Aside from thanking his parents, his siblings, Syracuse University, the NBA, and others, he also name-dropped his children, Kiyan and Genesis.
“Raising children in this world is revoluntionary. I didn’t just want to be a basketball player. I wanted to be a model of redemption, of accountability, of love. My kids saved me,” he said, pointing to them in the crowd. “They gave me a reason to move past ego, past noise, past criticism. They reminded me that legacy isn’t what you leave behind, it’s what you lift up.”
More Details About Carmelo’s Two Kids
Melo’s fans are familiar with his firstborn, Kiyan Anthony. The former pro-athlete and La La Anthony, whom he later married in 2010 and divorced in 2021, welcomed their son in March 2007. Over the years, the separated parents have come together to celebrate their mini-me. That includes his basketball games and his high school graduation in May. On the court, he’s a four-star shooting guard. He’s following in his father’s footsteps this fall after committing to Syracuse University and its college basketball team. Most recently, the 18-year-old went viral after flexing his relationship with 22-year-old Angel Bradley.
Kiyan is also an older brother to Genesis Anthony, whom Carmelo welcomed with Mia Burks in August 2017. At the time, he was still married to La La. According to PEOPLE, the married couple separated briefly in April 2017 and reconciled in late 2018 before she filed for divorce in 2021. Burke was public about Carmelo’s paternity, but he held his tongue on their parenting affairs, per PEOPLE. In May 2023, he publicly confirmed being a father of two while announcing his retirement from the NBA. He included a picture of Kiyan and Genesis in the video. His daughter’s sighting at the induction is one of the most recent and rare. Carmelo and Mia celebrated her birthday last month with a Knicks-themed party.
RELATED: Kiyan Anthony Responds To Backlash Over Age Gap With Girlfriend Angel Bradley (WATCH)
Dwight Howard Also Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
Carmelo Anthony wasn’t the only honoree on Saturday. Dwight Howard also cemented his legacy with a Hall of Fame induction. Despite his playful nature on the court, he’s one of four players with three Defensive Player of the Year awards. In his speech, he lovingly mentioned his mother’s sacrifices.
“My mother lost seven children and he allowed me to bring sunshine into her life,” he said. “I’m just honored to stand in front of you as one of the greatest basketball players ever.”
Even his wife Amy Luciani, who entered the picture following his retirement from the NBA after the 2021-22 season, got a shoutout as she sat in the crowd supporting her man, her man, her man! “I love you, and I’m truly blessed to have you a part of my life,” Dwight said. Their public reconciliation comes after several accusations she made against him in June, all of which he denied the following month.
Additionally, in his Hall of Fame speech, Howard shared a motivational message with the audience: “This is your universe, this is your one song. How do you want your song to sound when people hear it? Will they want to throw it out or run it back? And remember, you only die once, but you live every day.”
