For years, Bryce James and Kiyan Anthony have been pitted as each other’s adversaries. But if you ask them, it’s more of a sibling rivalry. With the need to make their own names in the basketball world that has seen their fathers, Carmelo and LeBron, match up, both push each other to bring out their best. And since 2020, when the two officially faced each other as eighth graders, that role of being each other’s growth catalyst has continued. However, with James and Anthony now in different college conferences, those competitive matchups look farther in the future than expected.

Moving into the next chapter of his basketball career with the Arizona Wildcats, Bryce James anticipated a game with Kiyan Anthony to return to their benchmarks as NCAA athletes. So, when he recently came on his Instagram Live with his Arizona teammates, he candidly asked, “Is Arizona or Northwestern playing Syracuse?” To his visible disappointment, Anthony Dell’Orso shut it down with a straight, “Nah, we don’t play Syracuse.” Another voice added matter-of-factly, “Syracuse is in the ACC.” 

Arizona, now part of the Big 12 after the conference realignment in 2024, simply doesn’t share a regular-season rotation with the ACC’s Syracuse. In fact, for at least the last three seasons, the Cats have not met Syracuse in the non-conference regular season matchups. This season as well, despite having a chance at hosting one of the most anticipated showdowns, the Orange will not be playing Arizona. That is, at least in the regular season this year.

However, if both teams reach March Madness and are placed in the same bracket, they have a very small chance of meeting each other. They could also square off in a preseason tournament or a neutral-site showcase. So when Bryce’s teammates shut it down on the Live, the letdown wasn’t just over one game, it was about the realization that their paths may rarely cross on the NCAA stage.

Syracuse has Kiyan Anthony on its roster, and a head-to-head would have been a rare litmus test between two young players carrying enormous expectations. Wanting Syracuse, or at least asking about it aloud on a public Live, suggests he was looking for validation on the court: a direct, uncontested way to measure himself against Kiyan rather than letting comparisons live forever in headlines. It clearly showed the need to prove yourself as an individual player, not just as “LeBron’s son.” And this competitive fire between the two isn’t new.

In December 2024, Anthony and James played each other in an EYBL matchup, with LeBron and Carmelo watching from the sidelines. Kiyan’s team, Team Melo, lost to Bryce’s Strive for Greatness team 71-65. In the losing game, Kiyan finished with an impressive stat line with 18 points and four assists, shooting 31% from the field. Bryce, on the other hand, contributed 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block while shooting 37% from the floor.

Off the court, the rivalry has spilled into the NIL marketplace. Bryce James, represented by Klutch Sports, carries an estimated NIL valuation of $1.1 million, boosted by deals with Taco Bell and Uninterrupted. Kiyan Anthony’s figure hovers slightly lower, around $750,000-$1 million, anchored by partnerships with PSD Underwear, Nerf, and his own One Way Clothing brand. Still, all the numbers mean little compared to proving it head-to-head on the court.

But when Anthony was asked about his relationship with James, he was clear, stating, “It’s not similar with me and Bryce, but everybody just want one of us to be like, ‘Oh, we better’, ‘Oh, I’m way better than him’. Like we would never say that about each other. We just go out there and compete, and then the pins obviously gonna start flowing in.” Despite the distance between them, with Kiyan living in New York, on the East Coast, and Bryce James residing in Los Angeles, they have remained close through their fathers’ friendship and their love for basketball.

Could this be the start of a rivalry at 18? Absolutely, but with caveats. Both are the same recruiting class (born 2007), playing parallel trajectories that intersect quite often. Kiyan’s Syracuse commitment and Bryce’s Arizona signing put them on national stages where future matchups (non-conference slates, tournaments, or the pros) are possible. But, for now, their 2025-26 season schedules are down and the two can only hope to see each other on later stages of their NCAA careers.