Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, father of late Lakers legend Kobe, passes away

Joe Bryant, the former NBA player and WNBA coach with the colorful nickname, has died at the age of 69, four and a half years after his son, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, granddaughter Gianna Bryant and seven others died in a helicopter crash.

Coach Fran Dunphy of La Salle, Joe Bryant’s alma mater, told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday that Bryant recently suffered a debilitating stroke.

A teammate at John Bartram High School in Philadelphia nicknamed Bryant “Jellybean” because he had a variety of moves despite being 6 feet 9 inches tall. “Must be jelly because jam doesn’t move like that,” Bryant had heard, referring to World War I. Glenn Miller’s second-era hit song.

The nickname stuck – Bryant also liked to eat jellybeans – and he became a star. He was the High School Public League Player of the Year in 1972, then remained in Philadelphia to attend La Salle, averaging 20.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game during his two seasons.

La Salle coach at the time, Paul Westhead, supported all of Jellybean’s proposals.

“He had a lot of tricks up his sleeve,” Westhead said. “He’ll cut you down either way.”

Bryant was the 14th overall selection in the 1975 NBA draft going to the Golden State Warriors, who sold his rights to his hometown Philadelphia 76ers shortly before the start of the 1975–76 season. Perhaps Bryant’s most memorable moment as a player came in his first game with the Clippers when he dunked over the Lakers’ 7-foot-2 center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Also in 1975, the 20-year-old Bryant married Pam Cox, sister of former NBA player Chubby Cox, and had two daughters, Sharia and Shaya, in addition to their son Kobe.

Bryant was a key contributor for four years in Philadelphia, playing behind future Hall of Famers and fellow forwards George McGinnis and Julius Erving. The 76ers made the playoffs in each of Bryant’s seasons, losing to the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals in 1977.

The 76ers traded Bryant to the San Diego Clippers before the 1979–80 season for a future first-round draft pick and nearly doubled his playing time. He averaged 11 points and 5.5 rebounds in three seasons with the Clippers before averaging 10 points with the Houston Rockets in his last NBA season.

“Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant was a local basketball icon whose on-court legacy extended through his journey through Bartram High School, La Salle University and his first four NBA seasons with the 76ers from 1975-79,” the Sixers said in a statement. , “Our condolences go out to the Bryant family.”

Bryant then embarked on a nomadic career abroad as a player and coach, bringing his family with him. They played in Italy and France until 1992, not returning to Philadelphia until Kobe was about to start high school. Bryant served as the head coach of the girls team at Akiba Hebrew Academy in 1992–93 before moving to La Salle as an assistant for the duration of Kobe’s career at Lower Merion High.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the school said in a news release. “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 greatly missed.”

Shortly after finishing high school, Kobe was recruited by the Charlotte Hornets and was immediately traded to the Lakers in 1996.

Joe and Pam Bryant moved to Los Angeles with their 17-year-old son and had to co-sign his first Lakers contract, a three-year, $3.5 million deal, because Kobe was too young to sign for himself. Were.

The Lakers rookie used some of his newfound wealth to buy cars for Joe, Pam, Sharia and Shaya, all of whom lived with him in Pacific Palisades for three years, until Joe and Pam moved more than a mile Didn’t buy a house at short distance.

“We’re not going to let him out here alone,” Joe told Times columnist Bill Plaschke in early 2003.

“My family was always there for me,” Kobe said at the time. “That’s why I love them.”

Their relationship remained strong until Kobe courted and eventually married Orange County teenager Vanessa Laine in 2001.

“It’s right in the Bible,” Kobe said. “When you get married, your parents and sisters are no longer a priority.”

His parents did not come to Kobe and Vanessa’s wedding or their new home. When Lower Merion High retired Bryant’s jersey in 2002, Joe and Pam sat in one section of the stands, Vanessa in the other.

Why stress? Kobe said that his father – who was younger than Kobe when he married Pam when he was 20 – felt uncomfortable about his devotion to Vanessa and did not like that she was Latina. Joe said: “Once they’ve decided to get married, it’s their life now.”

Vanessa Bryant posted a message on Instagram on Tuesday: “My condolences to hear of the passing of your father-in-law. We had hoped things would have been different. Although we spent very little time together, his company was always sweet and pleasant. Kobe loved him very much. Our prayers go out to the family.”

Bryant returned to coaching in 2003 and spent a year each with the Las Vegas Rattlers and Boston Frenzy of the American Basketball Association. She moved to the WNBA and became head coach of the Sparks for two seasons, leading LA to a 25–9 record and a berth in the conference finals in 2006. A year later, he was replaced by former Lakers star Michael Cooper.

“I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of my friend Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, father of Kobe Bryant,” Magic Johnson wrote on X. “Joe was not only a talented basketball player; he was also a great coach.

“Joe was an extraordinary human being with a bright smile that had the power to light up any room, and a great husband and father. Cookie and I are praying for his wife Pam, daughters Sharia and Shaya, and the rest of the Bryant family, friends and all who loved Joe.

From 2007 to 2015, Bryant coached a few teams in Japan, Italy, and Southeast Asia. As recently as 2013, Bryant was working out regularly on the full-length basketball court on the second floor of the L.A. apartment building where he and Pam lived.

His workout? He fired 120 shots, 60 at each end – 20 to the left, 20 to the right, 20 in the middle – proving to himself that “Jellybean” still had tricks up his sleeve at 60 years old.