Antoine Mason (center, in 1995), the son of Anthony Mason and LatifaWhitlock, is the leading scorer for Niagara. (NY Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
Parents often are their children’s harshest critics. Anthony Mason, the gritty former Knicks forward who embodied their physical teams of the 1990s, took it to the extreme.
He once told his struggling son Antoine, “You’re horrible,” after one poor performance during high school. On another occasion, he said, “You [stink],” smacking his son’s ego the same way he used to slam opponents to the floor driving to the basket.
“He said he had aspirations of playing pro,” the former Knicks enforcer said. “I knew in order for him to be great, you have to give tough love.”
Antoine always took the criticism in stride and credits his dad’s unforgiving approach with his present status as one of the nation’s top sophomores — MAAC-leading Niagara’s leading scorer entering today’s matchup at Manhattan College. He has missed the Purple Eagles’ past three games with an ankle injury, and it is uncertain if he will face the Jaspers.
A 6-foot-3 guard, Antoine was a star at a young age at New Rochelle H.S., but Anthony wasn’t sold seeing his son rack up big numbers against Westchester foes. He brought his son down to New York City — where Anthony, a Queens product, developed himself — as a true test. Initially, he failed to hold his own, taking “butt whippings,” his dad said jokingly. But he kept asking to go back, just like he never let his father’s critiques get to him.
“For him to go past that and continue to play, I knew he was destined to be a great ball player,” Anthony said.
Anthony never pushed basketball on Antoine. The younger Mason fell in love with the sport while watching his dad perform on the sport’s highest level.
Antoine was a star at New Rochelle, earned a full scholarship to Niagara and has blossomed this winter, after a summer full of draining daily workouts with Anthony. Anthony wouldn’t go into too much detail in the sessions — “I can’t give away ancient Chinese secrets,” he said — but he did say the two worked on each area of his game, particularly Antoine’s weaknesses. Some days he would just make Antoine run sprints to test him.
“We worked on things I was going to do in games,” Antoine said. “I told him what I wanted to do, he saw things I do and we just worked on it.”
Antoine said he became a far more productive player as a result — his free-throw shooting (.789 from .684) and 3-point percentage (.310 from .270) improved, and his points per game average skyrocketed (18.9 from 15.1). It’s no coincidence the Purple Eagles (15-11) lead the MAAC and already have surpassed last year’s win’s total of 14.
“He’s really become an efficient player,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said.
Though they played different positions, and Anthony
says Antoine is naturally more skilled than he ever was, there are similarities between the two. Antoine’s work ethic is every bit his father’s equal, Anthony said, he has that same hunger to beat his opponent and though several
inches shorter, he has that same thick muscular frame.
“You see the competitiveness, you see the toughness, you see the fearlessness,” Mihalich said, comparing the two. “[Antoine] has such an incredible desire.”
Growing up Anthony Mason’s son wasn’t easy on Antoine. Everybody wanted to know about Antoine’s father, then his older brother,
Anthony Mason Jr., became a star locally at St. John’s when he was in high school. There were heightened expectations, just because of the last name.
Antoine said they didn’t affect him. He is proud of his father and used it at motivation to make his own mark.
“I always had challenges and I always wanted to prove people wrong,” Antoine said.
The biggest challenge is a personal one. He doesn’t want people to think of his dad or his older brother, who now plays overseas in Italy, when the last name Mason comes up.
“I want to be the best Mason,” he said. “Since I started basketball, I told him I want to be better than him [and] my brother. He says it’s going to be hard work, but he thinks I can do it.”
Positive reinforcement? Antoine has come a long way since “you’re horrible.”
zbraziller@nypost.com