Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, father of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, has passed away at the age of 69.
Philadelphia Inquirer They were the first to report the news of the former 76ers player’s death.
LaSalle University basketball coach Fran Dunphy told the outlet that Bryant had been battling health issues and suffered a severe stroke on Tuesday.
His death came four years after the deaths of his son and granddaughter.
Bryant graduated from LaSalle University and was a first-round draft pick by the Golden State Warriors in 1975. A few months later, he returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to play for the 76ers after the Warriors sold his rights to the team.
Bryant, nicknamed “Jellybean” because of his sweet tooth, spent four seasons with the team before moving on to the San Diego Clippers for three seasons and then the Houston Rockets for one.
In 1983, he continued his basketball career overseas, playing in Italy and France, before retiring in 1992.
The family returned to Philadelphia, where a young Kobe honed his basketball skills.
Bryant then began his coaching career, coaching the Los Angeles Sparks from 2005 to 2007.
There was widely known tension between father and son, and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Bryant had not commented publicly about his son’s death.
Bryant is survived by his wife, Pam, his daughters Sharia and Shaya, and his grandchildren.
In January 2020, Kobe, 41, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
