La La Anthony and Kiyan Anthony Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows
La La Anthony and Carmelo Anthony split in 2021 but the TV host is holding on to her married name for another member of her family.
During a panel at Fanatics Fest on Saturday, August 17, La La shared that she remains Ms. Anthony because of her son, Kiyan. The 17-year-old she shares with ex-New York Knick Carmelo is a promising basketball prospect and she wants to wear their shared name on her back when his eventual pro jersey is released.
According to Page Six, moderator Taylor Rooks told La La that “being able to buy Kiyan’s NBA jersey will be crazy.”
“That’s why I haven’t changed my last name yet,” La La said. “I’m gonna keep it around for a little while!”
La La, 42, is a native New Yorker and her ex-husband played for the Knicks for seven seasons. However, she has no problem rooting against Madison Square Garden’s finest if her son lands elsewhere in the NBA.
“I’m sorry I’m going where my kid goes!” she said. “Wherever my kid is at, that’s who I’m rooting for.”
She said that the experience of watching her son head to the NBA feels wildly different from supporting her husband during his career.
“It’s different when it’s your kid,” she shared. “It’s just a whole different ball game. It feels like a brand new journey that I’m going on with him.”
Kiyan takes after his father in terms of basketball ability — he’s currently ESPN’s top-ranked high school basketball player in the state of New York — but he doesn’t have either of his parents’ passion for the limelight, according to La La. She called her son “humble” and said she was impressed at how level-headed he is.
“It’s amazing how grounded he has been able to be through it all because I couldn’t imagine growing up with parents that were in the spotlight or like … people wearing [Carmelo’s] jersey and people going crazy everywhere he goes,” she shared on Saturday.
La La and Carmelo were engaged in 2004 and welcomed their son in 2007 before tying the knot three years later. The pair separated in 2017, but reunited the following year before La La filed for divorce in 2021.
La La said in 2021 that the divorce “hit [her] hard.” During a visit to The Angie Martinez Show, she said that the public nature of their breakup threw her for a loop “because there were other people involved.”
“It was bad because there were allegations,” she said. “It got bad.”
