Former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, father of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, has passed away at the age of 69.
As of Tuesday morning, no official cause of death had been announced. La Salle University, where Bryant both played and coached, released a statement expressing that he “was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
Fran Dunphy, a longtime Philadelphia-area basketball coach and current head coach at La Salle, informed the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant had recently suffered a massive stroke.
Joe Bryant had largely remained out of the public eye following the tragic death of his son, Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash in 2020.
In a 2010 interview with ESPN, Kobe Bryant praised his father as “a great basketball mind” and credited him with teaching him from an early age about the game, preparation, and execution.
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
Joe Bryant had a distinguished career both playing and coaching professionally in the United States and internationally. He starred at La Salle, averaging 20.8 points per game over two seasons with the Explorers, and was a first-round draft pick for the Golden State Warriors in 1975, later joining the Philadelphia 76ers that same year.
Standing 6-foot-9, Bryant played parts of eight seasons in the NBA with the 76ers, Clippers, and Rockets, averaging 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds across 606 career games. He was part of the 1976-77 76ers team that reached the NBA Finals but lost to the Trail Blazers.
After nearly a decade of playing overseas in France and Italy, Bryant transitioned to coaching in 1992. He served as the head coach for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks for parts of three seasons and held various coaching roles at both the professional and college levels in the U.S., Japan, and Thailand.
Speaking of funeral, there are no details yet. We will keep you posted.
