Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s Father, Dies At 69

Kobe Bryant with his father Joe Bryant during at an MLB game in Anaheim, CAalifornia, on June 21, 2009. | Source: John W. McDonough / Getty

Former NBA player and father of the legendary Kobe Bryant, Joe Bryant, has passed away.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 69-year-old suffered a massive stroke after recently suffering health issues.

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The Philly legend got his start at Bartram High School, but it was during his time at La Salle in the early 1970s that his star began to grow, leading to his draft by the Golden State Warriors.

We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant.

Joe played for the Explorers from 1973-75 and was a member of our coaching staff from 1993-96. He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed. pic.twitter.com/A3sgZzVkkt

— La Salle Men’s Basketball (@LaSalle_MBB) July 16, 2024

He played with his hometown 76ers for several seasons before joining the Houston Rockets, which effectively ended his NBA career and led to him getting a lot of attention overseas.

From there, he took his talents to Italy, playing for clubs such as AMG Sebastiani Rieti and Olimpia Pistoia. His son Kobe was partially raised there despite also being born in Philly.

RIP JOE "JELLYBEAN" BRYANT pic.twitter.com/qM9QeTmBkj

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) July 16, 2024

But after his professional career ended in 1992, he stayed around the game, becoming a coach at his alma mater, La Salle. Then, in 2005, he was promoted to head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, leading the team to a stellar 25-9 record and even reaching the Conference Finals.

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Bryant’s nickname was Jellybean — a self-proclaimed lover of candy–  which led to Kobe’s infamous middle name, Bean. His death comes about four and a half years after his son Kobe, granddaughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.

His father’s extensive career aided in Kobe’s Hall of Fame game, and in a story years ago, he spoke of how his father instilled in him the confidence to be nothing short of extraordinary.

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“Here I come playing, and I don’t score one point the entire summer. Not one. (I was) 10,11. I was in the game… Because I was terrible! I remember crying about it and being upset about it and my father just gave me a hug and said ‘listen, whether you score 0 or you score 60, I’m gonna love you no matter what’,” Kobe remembered. “Now that is the most important thing that you can say to a child. Because from there I was like ‘Okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to fail’. I have the security there. But, to hell with that, I’m scoring 60!”

See how social media is reacting to Joe Bryant’s death below.

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