On a virtual NBA Draft night, viewers saw the Orlando Magic choose Cole Anthony with the 15th overall pick.
He’s yet another talent who comes to the league with a famous father who played in the NBA years before him, as Greg Anthony is the Magic rookie’s father.
Here are more details about who Cole Anthony’s dad Greg Anthony is, including his past and present positions in the sports world.
Greg Anthony’s career included Knicks, Grizzlies
Years before Cole Anthony heard his name called by the NBA Commissioner, his dad Greg Anthony was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Greg played point guard and was amongst a talented group of players with Jerry Tarkanian’s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. That college team also featured future NBA stars Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon.
The New York Knicks chose Greg with the No. 12 pick in 1991. He’d go on to play his first four years with the team, becoming part of the storied rivalry involving Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Patrick Ewing’s Knicks teams.
Greg Anthony would also make history as the first pick for the Vancouver Grizzlies expansion franchise. They chose Greg second overall in the 1995 NBA expansion draft.
He’d play there for just two seasons before a one-season stint with the former Seattle Supersonics, followed by three years with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Anthony closed out his career playing with the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks in the 2001-02 season.
He was never an All-Star during his career but averaged 7.3 points, four assists, 1.9 rebounds, and a 40.3 field goal percentage over 757 games.
His best season came with the expansion Grizzlies in 1995-96 as he averaged 14 points, 6.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in about 30.4 minutes per game.
Greg was in the room to watch as his son Cole Anthony had his name called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Cole was joined by other friends and family, including movie director Spike Lee.
Cole’s dad Greg now works as an analyst
Cole Anthony’s dad is now 53 years old and is married to Chere Lucas Anthony, a dermatologist. They’ve got a son and daughter together. Cole is one of Greg’s two kids from a previous marriage.
The other is his daughter Ella Anthony.
Greg is currently working as an analyst with NBA TV and Turner Sports. Some viewers may have seen him providing pre-game and post-game analysis for college basketball or the NBA.
In particular, Greg Anthony has popped up as part of the Turner crew during the NCAA College Basketball Tournament as part of March Madness and all that bracket talk.
In addition to that, Greg works as a contributor for Yahoo! Sports for their college basketball coverage. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also been part of Sirius XM NBA Radio as a co-host and analyst.
Due to having experience in the broadcast booth, Greg Anthony has also been featured as part of the NBA 2K basketball video games’ commentary team.
He sat down with former 2KTV host Rachel DeMita several years ago to discuss his years in the NBA.
Cole Anthony comes out of the University of North Carolina as a highly-touted 6-foot-3 point guard.
When he first entered UNC, he was considered a future top-three pick, but a torn meniscus injury caused him a serious setback, per NY Post. Now he’s looking to continue improving and contribute as much as possible in the professional league.
“It was a rough year. Just literally like every emotion, I went through that in a short period of time. Now it’s just sheer bliss,” Cole said after hearing his name called on Wednesday night.
Greg Anthony also shared how proud he was of his son on NBA Draft Night, with a tweet that carried the hashtag “#Blessed.”
#Blessed https://t.co/a5Q90t4wmE
— Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) November 19, 2020
Cole Anthony will now look to build upon the family name, and it’s likely his father will proudly be rooting him on towards an All-Star career in the league. See more from Greg on his official Instagram page.