The father of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a former NBA player. He was sixty-nine.
As of Tuesday morning, there was no official cause of Bryant’s death disclosed. In a statement, La Salle University, Bryant’s place of play and coaching, said he “was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
Extended Period Fran Dunphy, the head coach of La Salle and a basketball coach from the Philadelphia area, revealed to the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant had suffered a severe stroke recently.
Following Kobe Bryant’s passing in a helicopter accident more than four years ago, Joe Bryant hardly made any public appearances. In 2010, the legendary player from the Los Angeles Lakers told ESPN that Joe had “a great basketball mind” and that his father had taught him “from an early age how to view the game, how to prepare for the game and how to execute.”
While traveling to a basketball event in Calabasas, California, in January 2020, a chopper carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people perished. A month or so after Kobe and Gianna passed away, Joe and Pam Bryant, who had been married for almost fifty years, attended the memorial service in Los Angeles in the front row, despite their occasionally tense relationship with Kobe.
Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, wrote on her Instagram story on Tuesday, “Sending our condolences upon hearing the news of my father-in-law’s passing.” “We hoped things would’ve been different. Although the times we spent together were few, he was always sweet and nice to be around. Kobe loved him very much.”
Joe Bryant was a standout player at La Salle, averaging 20.8 points per game over two seasons with the Explorers. He went on to play professionally both in the United States and abroad. The Golden State Warriors selected him in the first round of the 1975 NBA Draft, but the Philadelphia 76ers ultimately acquired him.
“Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant was a local basketball icon, whose legacy on the court transcended his journey across Bartram High School, La Salle University, and his first four NBA seasons with the 76ers from 1975-79,” the team stated in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the Bryant family.”
Former Kobe teammate Doug Young praised Joe as the ideal “role model.”
“Joe was our JV coach at Lower Merion and I could not have asked for a more positive mentor, teacher, and role model,” Young told ESPN. “It’s difficult to overstate how much he influenced me and my teammates. He made basketball fun and made us all want to be better; he believed in us. I’ll never forget his infectious smile, his bear hugs and the incredible bond he shared with Kobe. Growing up in Lower Merion, there was no family we loved and admired more than the Bryants, and that started with Joe.”
The 6-foot-9 Bryant averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 606 career games while playing for the Sixers, Clippers, and Rockets during portions of eight NBA seasons. He played with the Sixers in 1976–77, a squad that lost the NBA Finals against the Trail Blazers.
In 1992, Bryant began working as a coach after spending over ten years playing abroad in France and Italy. In addition to serving in a variety of coaching capacities at the professional and collegiate levels in the United States, Japan, and Thailand, he spent portions of three seasons as the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Arn Tellem, the vice chairman of the Pistons and formerly Kobe Bryant’s agent, expressed his deep sadness over the passing of Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and joined the basketball community in mourning a true Philly hoops legend. “Our friendship opened the door for me to represent Kobe as he entered the NBA, a memory I’ll always cherish. Joe was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, whose warmth touched everyone he met.”
The Associated Press and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin both contributed to this story.