Former MTV and VH1 television personality La La Anthony (née Vázquez) does not want past issues with Dallas Mavericks fans to hurt her son’s chance of one day playing for the NBA franchise.
The “BMF” actress hinted at Kiyan Anthony’s potential NBA future during the Women Transforming Sports Through Media panel at the 2024 Fanatics Fest in New York City.
La La was joined by Livvy Dunne, Shelley Zalis, and Allison Kuch at the NYC event. Alix Earle and Taylor Rooks hosted the all-female discussion which covered social media strategies and sports business.
At one point, Rooks asked the panelists to name their most hated sports team. La La responded, “I got to be careful my son is coming up in the game. I got to be real, real careful.”
She then revealed a past incident that took place during her relationship with Kiyan’s father, Carmelo Anthony.
“I remember I did have an incident when Melo was playing the Dallas Mavericks and I was like, ‘I don’t know if I like this team, I don’t know if I like this place.’ But that was a while ago, so maybe I’ve forgiven them since then,” she continued.
La La Anthony was referencing an infamous moment when she and 2-year-old Kiyan allegedly faced racial taunts during a 2009 Western Conference Semi-Finals game between her then-fiancé Carmelo Anthony’s Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center.
“Obviously the play-off games bring out the best and the worst in fans but what happened on Monday night with the racial slurs/threats, verbal attacks on my son, and physical attacks to myself by irate fans was unacceptable,” La La shared in a statement at the time.
It also stated that Kiyan was called “crude names” therefore his mother him early but as she was leaving “she was physically pushed.”
Video shows the former radio personality getting into a heated altercation with security as she was escorted off the front row.
La La, who can be seen pointing her finger at someone in the crowd, further claimed, “The fans were totally out of control. What the cameras captured was me defending myself and didn’t show the abuse that was taking place.”
People inside the venue for the 2009 Denver Nuggets versus Dallas Mavericks playoff matchup disputed La La Anthony’s version of events. NBCDFW spoke to people who attended the same game, and they insisted La La and her entourage were the aggressors in the situation, not the Mavs fans.
According to the Dallas-Fort Worth-based outlet, a source said a man seated with La La Anthony threatened to “fight all you f—–s right now.” Another source claimed he was hit by jewelry La La attempted to throw at the woman sitting behind him.
La La gave birth to her and Melo’s son on March 7, 2007. Three years later, on July 10, 2010, the Brooklyn-born celebrity married Kiyan’s father. VH1 aired their marital ceremony as part of the “La La’s Full Court Wedding” reality show.
Their marriage ended after La La filed for divorce from Carmelo in 2021 following rumors of the former ball player having secret children with other women.
Kiyan Anthony, 17, is reportedly considering several Division I college basketball programs. There has been speculation the Class of 2025 member from Long Island Lutheran High School could play for his father’s alma mater, Syracuse University.
