Cole Hinton Anthony (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

. Listed at and , he plays the point guard position. The son of

Greg Anthony Gregory Carlton Anthony (born November 15, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony also cont ...

, who played 11 seasons in the

(NBA), he grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

, New York and attended

Archbishop Molloy High School Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the Roman Cat ...

before transferring to Oak Hill Academy for his final year. He was rated a consensus five-star recruit and the best point guard in the 2019 class. As a senior, he earned ''USA Today'' All-USA first team honors and was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) of the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, B ...

, and

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

. In his freshman season at North Carolina, Anthony earned third-team All-ACC accolades despite missing six weeks due to injury. In 2018, Anthony led the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

to a gold medal and was named to the all-tournament team at the FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Early life

Anthony was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, where his father,

, was playing for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

. His

umbilical cord In placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or ''funiculus umbilicalis'') is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord is physiolog ...

was wrapped around his neck at birth, affecting his heart rate at the time but not leading to further complications. As a toddler, Anthony’s family moved to

, where he grew up in a penthouse. Even though he came from a wealthy family, Anthony’s parents insisted on raising him with hard-working values. He later commented, "They don't hand anything to me in life. What they do hand to me is knowledge." Anthony first played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

, a sport his father initially thought he would pursue, but decided to focus on basketball in fifth grade. In his childhood, he worked with private basketball trainers and played

pick-up game In sports and video games, a pick-up game (also known as a ''scratch game'' or ''PUG'') is a game that has been spontaneously started by a group of players. Players are generally invited to show up beforehand, but unlike exhibition games there is ...

s at local parks, seeking out older opponents. From a young age, Anthony was coached by Steve Harris, who mentored NBA player

Kemba Walker Kemba Hudley Walker (born May 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Walker was picked ninth overall by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. After gr ...

and was a prominent

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) figure in New York. When he was 11 years old, he appeared in ''Little Ballers'', a 2013

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by his mother,

Crystal McCrary Crystal McCrary McGuire (formerly Crystal McCrary Anthony) is a writer, film producer and director, a former attorney and a broadcast personality. She is a creator and producer of entertainment content, including award-winning BET Networks shows ' ...

. The film featured Anthony's New York-based AAU team, New Heights.

High school career

In his first three years of high school, Anthony played basketball for

in Briarwood, New York. He was the first freshman to immediately start at point guard for Molloy.

Christ the King Regional High School Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9-12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

head coach Joe Arbitello called Anthony "the best point guard I've seen since

Stephon Marbury Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current head coach in the Chinese Basketball Association. After his freshman year with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was selected as t ...

at that age." Anthony averaged 16.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and garnered All-

Catholic High School Athletic Association The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league in ...

(CHSAA) Class AA second team recognition. As a sophomore, Anthony led Molloy to the CHSAA Class AA city championship finals, where his team was upset by

Cardinal Hayes High School Cardinal Hayes High School is an American Catholic high school for boys in the Concourse Village neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City, New York. The school serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It is a member of the Catholic H ...

. He recorded a season-high 31 points in a win over Iona Prep in December 2016. Anthony averaged 20.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game and was named to the All-CHSAA Class AA first team with teammate, junior

Moses Brown Moses Brown (September 23, 1738 – September 6, 1836) was an American abolitionist and industrialist from New England, who funded the design and construction of some of the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industr ...

. In June 2017, he played for the PSA Cardinals at the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

(EYBL), a noted amateur circuit, and was named Defensive Player of the Year after leading all players in steals. In his junior season, Anthony and Brown formed one of the top duos in high school basketball, as well as in Molloy's history. As team co-captain, Anthony averaged a league-high 23.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. He was named All-CHSAA Class AA first team, ''USA Today'' All-USA third team, and

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including ...

Junior All-American third team. He scored a season-best 37 points against John Marshall High School at the City of Palms Classic in December 2017. In July 2018, Anthony won the

(MVP) award with the PSA Cardinals in the Nike EYBL after averaging 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists over 16 games. On July 28, 2018, Anthony announced that he would transfer to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year. The high school, located in

Mouth of Wilson, Virginia Mouth of Wilson is an unincorporated community, in Grayson County in the U.S. state of Virginia, just north of the North Carolina state line. The community lies in the Blue Ridge Highlands section of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of wha ...

, is known for their decorated basketball program. He joined the team with

Kofi Cockburn Kofi Cockburn ( ; born 1 September 1999) is a Jamaican professional basketball player who currently plays for Niigata Albirex of the Japanese B. League. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini. Early life Cockburn was born ...

, another highly regarded prospect in the 2019 class. Entering the season, Oak Hill was widely considered one of the best high school teams in the country. Anthony missed a few games of his senior season with an ankle injury. He led his team to the semifinals of the GEICO High School Nationals. Anthony averaged 18.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game, leading Oak Hill to a 31–5 record, and became the first player in school history to average a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

. He earned spots on the ''USA Today'' All-USA first team and MaxPreps All-American third team. Anthony was recognized as Virginia

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

for his success in both basketball and academics. He was named MVP of three prestigious high school all-star games: the

, where he had 14 points, five rebounds, and seven assists, and the

and

Recruiting

Anthony was considered one of the top recruits in the 2019 class since his sophomore season in high school. On April 23, 2019, Anthony committed to play college basketball for

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. His other top choices were Georgetown,

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. By the end of his high school career, he was by consensus a five-star recruit, top-five player, and the number one point guard in his class.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ranked him as the second-best player in the class.

College career

On November 6, 2019, in his regular-season debut for North Carolina, Anthony had 34 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to lead his team to a 76–65 victory over

. During the game, he surpassed the program record for most points in a freshman season debut, previously held by

Rashad McCants Rashad Dion McCants (born September 25, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as well as overseas. He played for Trilogy in the BIG3 three-on-three league. High schoo ...

since 2002, and set the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) record for points in a freshman season debut, previously held by

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

RJ Barrett Rowan Alexander "RJ" Barrett Jr. (born June 14, 2000) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected third overall in the 2019 NBA draft by the New York Knicks ...

since 2018. On November 11, Anthony was named ACC Player and Freshman of the Week after averaging 27 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4 assists in wins over Notre Dame and UNC Wilmington. On November 15, he scored a team-high 28 points in a 77–61 win over Gardner–Webb to become the first freshman in program history to score at least 20 points in his first three games. On December 17, it was announced that Anthony was expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing surgery for a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. He returned in a 71–70 loss to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

on February 1, 2020, leading all scorers with 26 points and recording 14 free throws, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. On February 8, Anthony had 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 98–96 overtime loss to seventh-ranked

. A week later, in a game against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, he fell to the floor and began gushing blood from his head after being struck by an opposing player's elbow. He left the game for three minutes before returning with a bandage over his right eyebrow. On March 2, Anthony was recognized as ACC Freshman of the Week a second time after averaging 22 points, six assists and 3.5 rebounds per game in victories over

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest u ...

and

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

. At the conclusion of the regular season, he earned third-team All-ACC and the ACC All-Freshman Team honors. As a freshman, Anthony averaged 18.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4 assists per game in 22 appearances. His team finished with a 14–19 record, its first losing season under head coach Roy Williams. On April 17, 2020 Anthony declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Professional career

Orlando Magic (2020–present)

Anthony was selected by the

with the 15th pick of the first round of the

. On November 21, 2020, the

announced that they had signed Anthony. On January 20, 2021, Anthony put up 13 points, alongside a game-winning, buzzer-beating, three-pointer in a 97–96 win against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. On May 1, 2021, he posted a then career-high 26 points along with a game-winning three-pointer with 0.1 seconds remaining to defeat the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. On May 16, 2021, Anthony became the first Magic rookie to score 30-plus points since

Victor Oladipo Kehinde Babatunde Victor Oladipo (born May 4, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, where in the 2012-201 ...

tallied 30 on Feb. 21, 2014 against the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associa ...

and it was the fifth highest scoring performance by a rookie in team history. Anthony concluded his rookie campaign with four 20-plus-point games, 19 double-digit scoring games in Orlando’s last 22 contests and two game-winning 3-point buzzer beaters. During the first few months of the

2021–22 NBA season The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The NBA returned to a full 82-game regular season in its normal mid-October to mid-April schedule for the first time since the 2018–19 NBA season, aft ...

, Anthony was discussed as a Most Improved Player award candidate. On October 26, 2022, Anthony was sidelined with an right internal oblique muscle injury. On December 29, he was suspended by the NBA for one game without pay due to coming off the bench during an altercation in a game against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

the day before.

National team career

Anthony played for the

at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario. In the final, he scored a team-high 18 points in a 113–74 win over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

to win the gold medal. After averaging 14.3 points and 4.2 assists per game, he was named to the all-tournament team. Anthony took part in the

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olymp ...

men's junior national team October minicamp in 2016 and 2018.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

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, 65 , , 65 , , 31.7 , , .391 , , .338 , , .854 , , 5.4 , , 5.7 , , .7 , , .3 , , 16.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 112 , , 99 , , 29.8 , , .393 , , .337 , , .846 , , 5.1 , , 5.0 , , .7 , , .3 , , 14.9

College

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Personal life

Cole Anthony and Greg Anthony (51915294716) (cropped)

Anthony is the son of

and Crystal McCrary and the stepson of Raymond McGuire. Greg Anthony was a member of the 1989–90 UNLV national championship team and played in the

(NBA) for 11 seasons, before joining

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular ...

and

Turner Sports Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD Sports) is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) that is responsible for sports broadcasts on its parent company's various channels in the United States, including TBS, TNT, AT&T SportsNet, and TruTV ...

as an analyst and broadcaster. Crystal McCrary worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

before becoming an author and filmmaker. McGuire is a Wall Street banking executive who ran in the Democratic primary for

mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public proper ...

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Cole 2000 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Basketball players from Portland, Oregon Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) alumni Orlando Magic draft picks Orlando Magic players Point guards Sportspeople from Manhattan