- [Narrator:] New York City. How do you shine
when there are eight million people
also striving for the spotlight?
How do you make it where others falter?
Is it luck, hard work, determination
that brings you the fame you seek?
Maybe all of the above. But this isn't my story.
It's Cole Anthony's.
- [Public Address Announcer:] Cole Anthony!
♪♪♪ I, I, I used to feel so devastated ♪♪♪ - [Announcer 1:] Oh, he puts it home with the right!
Cole Anthony!
♪♪♪ At the time, I thought we'd never make it ♪♪♪
- [Announcer 2:] Great pass. That was a dime.
♪♪♪ But now, we on our way to greatness ♪♪♪
- [Announcer 3:] The highest-touted prospect.
- [Announcer 4:] No. 1 guard in the country.
♪♪♪ And all it ever took was patience ♪♪♪
- [Announcer 5:] Another three!
- [Announcer 6:] Sensational in his North Carolina debut.
- [Commentator 1:] Cole Anthony is out with a knee injury...
- [Commentator 2:] He's gonna be off the court
for at least a month. - ...and is out indefinitely.
- [Greg Anthony:] No matter how bad things go,
he has supreme confidence. - [Commentator 3:] The most competitive player
this NBA draft. - [Commentator 4:] He has high steal potential.
- [Commentator 3:] And I think that he's NBA-ready.
- [Commentator 5:] Can run a team right now.
- [Commentator 6:] And he can be dynamite.
♪♪♪ At times, I thought we'd never make it ♪♪♪
- [Commentator 7:] Ideal size.
♪♪♪ Now, we on our way to greatness ♪♪♪
[Whistle blowing] ♪♪♪ Right here ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ For the crown right here ♪♪♪
- [Narrator:] Basketball in New York is a different animal, man.
Basketball's in this city's soul. It's on every corner
and in every park. - [Public address announcer:] There we go.
Make some noise! [Crowd cheering]
- [Narrator:] There've been so many legendary players
that came from these streets.
It's a badge of honor to be a baller from New York.
- [PA announcer:] Yeah, guard me! Guard me! Guard me!
'Scuse me. [Crowd cheering]
- [Kenny Smith:] Playing basketball in New York is kind of a, it's a way of life.
There's not a lot of gyms in New York City,
but there's a lot of basketball courts.
So everyone plays the game.
- [Franklyn Calle:] You know, you're born into it.
It's what you do. Regardless of your background,
where your parents come from, you hoop.
- [PA announcer 1:] Move out the way. Move out the way.
[Crowd cheering]
- [Smith:] There's eight million people there,
so how do you differentiate yourself
from eight million people?
You know, you have to be special, and you have
to be loud in doing it, at times.
[Crowd cheering]
- [PA announcer 2:] I am the best. - [Spectator 1:] I told you!
- [Spectator 2:] Yessir.
♪♪♪ And we goin' down in history ♪♪♪
- I think Cole Anthony is New York basketball,
New York hoops. He is what you'd think
when you think of a New York player:
gritty, tough, assertive.
Grimy. He is New York basketball in that sense.
He is your typical New York City guard.
[Crowd cheering]
- [Cole Anthony:] One redeeming quality all of us have
is that we're all tough.
I mean, you not gon' find no guards from New York
that play dead and just let someone walk all over them.
They're gon' give it they all, no matter who it is.
- [Narrator:] A New York legend doesn't just appear.
Nah, a New York legend is built. And for Cole Anthony,
his journey began before he came to be—
as a son of NBA player and New York Knick Greg Anthony.
[Crowd cheering] - [Announcer 1:] Greg Anthony
with an open three.
- [Announcer 2:] Anthony penetrates to the bucket.
[Crowd cheering] - [Announcer 1:] Anthony to the reverse.
Yes! - [Announcer 3:] Anthony's been one
of the unsung heroes for the Knicks.
[Celebratory music] - [Announcer 1:] What a performance
by Greg Anthony!
[Crowd cheering]
- [Cole Anthony:] It was always cool just to have that dad,
and it was not until I was older
that I really learned to appreciate, I mean, my dad
being a former NBA player, being someone who had been
through the process that I wanna be through.
- He was born in 2000, so he never, ever saw me play.
You know, he obviously would know
because people would say something about it, but for him,
he just always played cuz he loved it.
♪♪♪ I woke up this morning inspired ♪♪♪
- [Cole Anthony:] My mom has this picture of me from, I think I was
like six months old, it was, like, before I could walk,
just throwing a basketball at the hoop.
I just always had that dream when I was younger.
I mean, I wasn't even thinking about how good I was.
I was just thinking that I wanted to be in the NBA.
♪♪♪ Don't let 'em take your soul away ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Don't let 'em take your soul away, come on ♪♪♪
- [Greg Anthony:] Towards the end of the fifth grade,
you know, he was playing baseball, and I'm a big baseball fan.
And he came to me after the game, and I'll never forget it.
He was like, "Dad, you know, I just want to tell you,
I don't want to play baseball anymore.
I just want to focus on basketball."
And it caught me off guard, quite frankly, cuz one, you know,
he wasn't that good at basketball at the time.
- [Cole Anthony:] I wasn't even aware that I was that bad.
But, I mean, my friends will tell you I wasn't that good,
but, I mean, it's just, I always just had love for the sport.
- [Greg Anthony:] He would compete like crazy, but his skill set,
I didn't envision him as necessarily developing
into what he's developing into.
[Heavy, dramatic music]
♪♪♪ I won't back down ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Step by step ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I won't back down ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Step by step ♪♪♪
- [Cole Anthony:] I was just focused on being the best
individual player I can be. I wasn't really worried
about following footsteps of anyone, not even my dad.
I just. My own person.
I wanna do everything I can for myself.
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I refuse to lose ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I refuse to break ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Pushin' for the win ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ No matter what it takes ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I refuse to lose ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I refuse to break ♪♪♪
- His body started to grow a little bit.
He started to get a little more athletic.
Skill set was starting to develop.
The better he got, the better he wanted to get.
So, when he started to get some national recognition,
it kind of fueled his fire, and it made him work harder.
- [Announcer 1:] Oh, my, what a block by Cole Anthony.
- [Announcer 2:] Anthony's got it. - [Announcer 3:] Oh! Gets it down.
What a play. - He would always want
to do things better than I did them at certain stages.
Cuz he's, you know, like, "Dad when's the first time you dunked?"
And I said, "Well, the ninth grade, you know, was the first time."
He says, "Well, you know, I wanna be able to dunk in the eighth grade."
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Step by step ♪♪♪
- I think I've become my own player.
I don't think I lean on my dad's name anymore.
I think I've created my own name.
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Step by step ♪♪♪ - [Narrator:] It's hard
to come up in this city, but once you do,
damn, the light shines bright.
Cole went to Archbishop Molloy,
where some of the most legendary New York players
balled in high school. And the hype just exploded.
♪♪♪ I was born to win ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Step by step ♪♪♪
- [Calle:] The fall of 2015, you know, rumblings around the city.
You know, people start to talk.
There's this freshman out in Archbishop Molloy
that as a freshman is starting on the varsity squad.
So first and foremost, in New York City, the CHSAA,
which is the Catholic league, takes pride
in being one of the toughest leagues in the country.
You don't play as a freshman on varsity squad, period.
Very, very rare. It doesn't happen.
Molloy's had, you know, they've had Kenny Smith, you know,
Kenny Anderson and Russ Smith. They've had some guards come out
of there, but no one has been able to come in
right off the bat and just start, day one.
- [Announcer:] Cole Anthony, what a finish.
Cole Anthony, he gets it.
- [Calle:] So by the time junior year comes around,
Cole worked his way all the way up
to be No. 1 point guard in the country.
That's essentially how we came upon deciding, you know, it was time
for Cole to be on the SLAM cover.
- [Photographer:] Cole, look at me.
There you go.
- [Calle:] We were trying to figure out when was the last time
that the No. 1 point guard in the country was based
in New York, in New York City.
And we said, "Oh, shoot, the last time that happened was,
like, 20-plus years ago. It was Stephon Marbury, 1995."
So, it became this historic thing.
♪♪♪ Beatin' down ya block ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Bangin' through ya 16s ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Go on, walk it out ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Girl, you know what I mean ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I'm on fire, I'm on fire ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I'm on fire ♪♪♪
I remember, on the cover,
we put, like, "Prince of New York" or something like that.
And then like two months later, he leaves New York
to go to Virginia to finish his high school career.
And, you know, a lot of people were like, you know: "Why,
why is he leaving? Why isn't he staying?"
♪♪♪ I been having this vision ♪♪♪
- [Narrator:] Cole swapping fame and status in New York
for Oak Hill definitely caught a lot of people off guard.
Cuz, see, New York isn't used to being shunned,
but they couldn't see his vision was set
on something greater.
♪♪♪ And I gotta do what I gotta do ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Mask on my face. Black in my veins ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ I gotta do what I gotta do ♪♪♪
- [Cole Anthony:] The reason I did that was just cuz I felt
like, it's just there wasn't much left for me
in New York, just in terms of basketball.
I felt that I wanted to play in a more competitive league,
play with dudes that were better. And so we felt that going
to Oak Hill was the best choice.
♪♪♪ Everything I was taught ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I'mma break through it ♪♪♪
- [Greg Anthony:] Cole just needed some maturity.
He had never been to Oak Hill until we dropped him off,
and I remember he told me, you know, "Dad,
whatever you say, I'm gonna trust you."
- [Announcer 1:] That's a beauty from Cole Anthony.
- [Announcer 2:] Oh, he puts it home with the right!
Cole Anthony.
- [Announcer 3:] No. 1 guard in the country.
- It was a challenge for him, especially how he had grown
up the way he had grown up,
but it did really help him mature and become a man.
- [Announcer:] Anthony getting past his
man. Anthony with a windmill slam.
Showcasing the flight.
Blocked away by Anthony.
The lob for Anthony is right there!
[Crowd cheering] ♪♪♪ Light 'em up, light 'em up ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ Light 'em up ♪♪♪
- [Calle:] I think that that's part of his story as well, right?
It's that, you know, he becomes the top dog here in New York,
then by senior year, he makes a decision of, like,
"I have to do what's best for me."
And maybe a lot of people in New York didn't, you know, felt some type
of way that he left, et cetera.
But that was definitely what was best for him.
- [Narrator:] Oak Hill is iconic, and with Cole at the helm,
scouts from all over clamored to get a glimpse,
and the offers rolled in.
For him, the choice was obvious.
He knew it had to be somewhere legendary.
- [Cole Anthony:] I really wanna thank all the schools that recruited me.
I mean, I had my final four, but at the end of the day,
we end up going with North Carolina.
- [Offscreen:] Ooh. - [TV Host:] North Carolina.
[Talking and laughing over each other]
- [Narrator:] Cole seemed destined for greatness,
but he had no idea the next step
would be the most challenging chapter of his life.