Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the father of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and a former NBA player, has passed away at the age of sixty-nine.
As of Tuesday morning, no official cause of death has been disclosed. La Salle University, where Bryant played and later coached, released a statement expressing that he “was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
Fran Dunphy, La Salle’s head coach and a long-time basketball coach in the Philadelphia area, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant had recently suffered a severe stroke.
Since the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter accident over four years ago, Joe Bryant had rarely made public appearances. In 2010, Kobe praised his father’s basketball acumen in an ESPN interview, saying Joe had taught him “from an early age how to view the game, how to prepare for the game and how to execute.”
In January 2020, Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash while traveling to a basketball event in Calabasas, California. Joe and Pam Bryant, married for almost fifty years, attended the memorial service in Los Angeles a month after the accident, despite having had a sometimes strained relationship with Kobe.
Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, expressed her condolences on Instagram, saying, “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 University, averaging 20.8 points per game over two seasons. He went on to play professionally in the United States and abroad. Drafted by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1975 NBA Draft, he was ultimately acquired by the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers released a statement acknowledging Joe Bryant’s impact: “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. Our condolences go out to the Bryant family.”
Doug Young, a former teammate of Kobe, remembered Joe as an exemplary “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. 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.”
Standing 6-foot-9, Joe Bryant averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds over 606 career games in the NBA, playing for the Sixers, Clippers, and Rockets across eight seasons. He was part of the 1976-77 Sixers team that lost the NBA Finals to the Trail Blazers.
After over ten years playing abroad in France and Italy, Bryant began his coaching career in 1992. He held various coaching positions at the professional and collegiate levels in the United States, Japan, and Thailand, including a tenure as the head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks for parts of three seasons.
Arn Tellem, the vice chairman of the Pistons and formerly Kobe Bryant’s agent, expressed his sorrow: “Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant was 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.”
This story includes contributions from the Associated Press and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
