Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony is mistakenly trending.
There seems to be confusion between the 42-year-old Anthony and the young Texas native Karmelo Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison by a Texas jury on Tuesday, June 9, following a 2025 fatal stabbing of a fellow student.
This isn’t a case of that Spider-Man meme. The two are not related and have zero connection to each other.
Anthony spent 19 seasons in the NBA, playing with the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers.
The one we call “Melo” is a 10-time All-Star, a six-time All-NBA team member, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players of all time. Now, he serves as a lead studio analyst for NBC Sports and Peacock during their national NBA broadcasts alongside Maria Taylor, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter.
May 30, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; NBA Showtime broadcasters Maria Taylor, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady before game seven of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Karmelo Anthony was convicted of killing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf over a disagreement about Anthony’s presence under a team tent at a track meet at Memorial High School in Frisco, Texas. The trial drew national attention that raised questions of race and school safety in Frisco.
But there could be a few baseless conclusions as to why people connected the young man to a future Basketball Hall of Famer. The obvious is the name. Not just the last name, but the first name is phonetically the same.
The former NCAA champion also has a son that plays at Syracuse whose name is Kiyan Anthony. But make no mistake, Karmelo and Kiyan aren’t siblings. Carmelo only has two children: Kiyan and a daughter named Genesis.
There’s no relation whatsoever between Carmelo Anthony and Karmelo Anthony.
Jan 13, 2026; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Kiyan Anthony (left) works with his father hall of fame member Carmelo Anthony (right) prior to the game against the Florida State Seminolesat the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Carmelo Anthony career highlights
In case you’re unfamiliar with his game, check out these career highlights from Carmelo Anthony’s career.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Carmelo Anthony trending after mistaken identity with Texas case
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