A few days ago, ESPN’s recruiting database revealed Kiyan Anthony to be #1 in the New York class of 2025. But in terms of brand building, the 17-year-old has one more step to surpass to top the NIL rankings. With a valuation of $1.2 million, Bryce James is currently twice as ahead of Kiyan. A long road certainly, but the shooting guard sure has his visions, with a little influence of  Carmelo Anthony.

The upcoming recruiting class revealed its dream NIL deals in conversation with Bleacher Report. Bryce had Chrome Hearts on his list while the Carlos Boozer twins, Carlos and Cayden mentioned Raising Cannes, Popeyes, or Crocs among others. For Kiyan, it was a little more to do with his father.

“I want an NIL deal with Jordan, ’cause my pops signed with Jordan. I feel like that will be fire.”

Carmelo Anthony himself was a high schooler when he set eyes on Jordan after meeting the brand’s namesake. “At that point, I’m locked into Jordan,” Anthony said on his podcast, recalling the instance dating back to the 2002 Jordan Brand Classic game. A few years in, Melo was signing a deal as the first signature athlete of the brand.

The New York Knicks icon was singed with Nike in his NBA rookie year when Jordan intervened. “I remember there wasn’t a plan at that point in time, right? But LeBron was at Nike, and MJ stepped up and said, ‘Look, I’ll pay half, Nike pay half. Look, I’ll take Melo, y’all got LeBron, Converse got D-Wade and [Chris] Bosh,'” Melo narrated on his podcast.

He has since been on good terms with Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls legend gifting an exclusive pair to the father-son duo for Kiyan’s 7th birthday and Melo himself reiterating to still adorn Jordans.

But not many student athletes seem to make the list yet for the brand that hit $7 billion in revenue for the year. The Jordan brand has only just begun signing student athletes on NIL deals with Kiki Rice, the UCLA freshman, becoming the first in October. She was later joined by LSU’s Mikaylah Williams as only the second women’s college basketball player in March this year. Kiyomi McMiller was another, who became the first high schooler with the brand earlier in 2023.

But with his performance at EYBL this summer, as a four star recruit, and maybe as he mentioned, with his association with the brand through his father, Kiyan can hope.

Kiyan has already been a part of the Jordan Brand, thanks to Carmelo Anthony

In 2o21, the Jordan brand released the shoe Air Jordan 35 PE Kiyan. But Melo likes to call it ‘ What the Kiyan’ and claims that his son was part of the creation process. The shoe consists of all of Kiyan Anthony’s favorite colors. The name Kiyan is stitched on the rear of the shoe. Carmelo debuted the Kiyan shoe in a match against the Phoenix Suns when he was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.

But also at the age of 5, Kiyan debuted in a campaign being the new face of RookieUSA and Jordan Kids. Kiyan’s face was on the back of NYC buses as the new face of Jordan Kids. The legacy of Carmelo and Michael Jordan runs deeper than and longer in terms of sneakers deals with Nike.

The Melo sneakers represent a significant milestone in basketball footwear, as Anthony’s signature line is the fifth-longest in NBA history, trailing only Michael Jordan (32 models), Kobe Bryant (17, across Nike and Adidas), LeBron James (15), and Allen Iverson (14), ESPN reported in 2017.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”