Before the days of NIL, athletic stars had to get creative with financial management before their professional careers. Players like Charles Barkley have been open about taking money under the table from agents and scouts. He did this in light of the NCAA’s stringent rules, if it meant he got to take care of his mother and grandmother before that NBA paycheck kicked in. The generation of that ’03 draft class had to navigate similar circumstances under a lot more scrutiny.

Carmelo Anthony had been in the public eye when he dropped 34 points on LeBron James in their high school matchup. Today, his son, Kiyan, has an NIL value around the $1 million range, his own business ventures, starting at Syracuse. When Kiyan Anthony joined his dad’s podcast with Dylan Harper before the latter was selected second overall in the NBA draft, Melo pointed out this difference in their eras.

Kiyan, whose parents praise him for his money management skills, revealed that it’s become important to learn financial literacy in high school. To which Melo himself pointed out, “We got penalized for having the agent.”

To be clear, there are no details available on this. Ahead of the 2003 draft, Melo reportedly didn’t have an agent, and it isn’t known if he was punished for violating NCAA rules. It is true, though, that during his era, student-athletes were prohibited from having agents to maintain their college eligibility. His co-host, Kazeem also said that it was normal for players to take money under the table.

Melo had his own justification for that. “The thing was not everybody was being taken care of…you knew the aunt had a job, you knew this cousin would work down the warehouse…you know what I mean, like you knew it was certain ways that you did it. So you have to be you had to be creative back then on how you did it.” 

The headliner of the 2025 Hall of Fame didn’t directly explain the circumstances but highlighted that student-athletes did what they could to help loved ones. That’s partly the reason why Melo may be envious of Kiyan.

Kiyan’s situation eases Carmelo Anthony

Kiyan is a fresh graduate of Lutheran High and recently started in Syracuse. Wearing dad’s #7 no less. Mom, La La is not that worried about the NIL situation as she revealed earlier this year that her 18-year-old is thrifty and doesn’t waste money. Carmelo Anthony also admitted teaching Kiyan about taxes young before he relied on financial managers.

Melo himself had legal battles with past business managers for mishandling his NBA earnings. He earned $262 million throughout his NBA career. on 7PM in Brooklyn, he admitted that before the NBA, he had to be careful with how he distributed his wealth. “I’m going to get this guy a couple dollars to bring you over here to me. Like it’s still the same concept now,” he refers to Kiyan and Harper’s situation. “It’s just in the open, I can do a real deal with you now and I don’t have to hide me spending my bread no more that’s the difference.”

Claiming it was “silly,” Melo’s comments aligned with Charles Barkley’s college experience. “We fought for that and the generation before us, before me really got ridiculed for that, went to court for that.”

Kiyan doesn’t have the pressure of helping out his parents with his earnings. But Melo is still glad that Kiyan’s generation can earn and help others more openly now.