No cause of Bryant’s death was announced Tuesday morning. La Salle University said Bryant “was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
Extended Time La Salle basketball coach Fran Dunphy told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant had a major stroke.
Joe Bryant hardly appeared after Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash four years ago. In 2010, the renowned Los Angeles Lakers star told ESPN that Joe had “a great basketball mind” and that his father taught him “from an early age how to view the game, how to prepare for the game and how to execute.”
In January 2020, a chopper carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others crashed in Calabasas, California, bound for a basketball game. Despite their often harsh relationship with Kobe, Joe and Pam Bryant, who had been married over fifty years, attended the Los Angeles funeral service in the front row a month after Kobe and Gianna died.
The widow of Kobe, Vanessa Bryant, posted on Instagram Tuesday, “Sending our condolences upon hearing the news of my father-in-law’s passing.” “We wished things were different. Despite our little interactions, he was always kind. Kobe deeply loved him.”
La Salle star Joe Bryant averaged 20.8 points per game for two seasons. He became a professional player in the US and internationally. The Golden State Warriors drafted him in the first round of 1975, but the Philadelphia 76ers took him.
“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,” the organization said. “Our condolences to the Bryant family.”
Doug Young, a former Kobe player, called Joe the perfect “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,” Young told ESPN. His influence on me and my teammates is hard to exaggerate. He made basketball entertaining and inspired us to improve; he believed in us. I’ll never forget his contagious smile, bear hugs, and great friendship with Kobe. As children in Lower Merion, the Bryants were the family we most admired, starting with Joe.
In 606 games for the Sixers, Clippers, and Rockets over eight NBA seasons, the 6-foot-9 Bryant averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds. His 1976–77 Sixers lost the NBA Finals to the Trail Blazers.
After twelve years playing in France and Italy, Bryant began coaching in 1992. Besides coaching at the professional and collegiate levels in the US, Japan, and Thailand, he was the Los Angeles Sparks’ head coach for three seasons.
Arn Tellem, the Pistons’ vice chairman and former Kobe Bryant’s agent, mourned Joe “Jellybean” Bryant’s death with the basketball community. Our friendship allowed me to represent Kobe in the NBA, a memory I’ll always treasure. Joe was a kind husband, father, and grandfather who made everyone feel welcome.