![\"\"](\"http:\/\/trendjet.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_9410-266x300-1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe father of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, Joe \u201cJellybean\u201d Bryant, was a former NBA player. He was sixty-nine.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday morning, there was no official cause of Bryant\u2019s death disclosed. In a statement, La Salle University, Bryant\u2019s place of play and coaching, said he \u201cwas a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Extended Period Fran Dunphy, the head coach of La Salle and a basketball coach from the Philadelphia area, revealed to the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant had suffered a severe stroke recently.<\/p>\n
Following Kobe Bryant\u2019s passing in a helicopter accident more than four years ago, Joe Bryant hardly made any public appearances. In 2010, the legendary player from the Los Angeles Lakers told ESPN that Joe had \u201ca great basketball mind\u201d and that his father had taught him \u201cfrom an early age how to view the game, how to prepare for the game and how to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n
While traveling to a basketball event in Calabasas, California, in January 2020, a chopper carrying Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people perished. A month or so after Kobe and Gianna passed away, Joe and Pam Bryant, who had been married for almost fifty years, attended the memorial service in Los Angeles in the front row, despite their occasionally tense relationship with Kobe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe was our JV coach at Lower Merion and I could not have asked for a more positive mentor, teacher, and role model,\u201d Young told ESPN. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to overstate how much he influenced me and my teammates. He made basketball fun and made us all want to be better; he believed in us. I\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-9 Bryant averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 606 career games while playing for the Sixers, Clippers, and Rockets during portions of eight NBA seasons. He played with the Sixers in 1976\u201377, a squad that lost the NBA Finals against the Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n
In 1992, Bryant began working as a coach after spending over ten years playing abroad in France and Italy. In addition to serving in a variety of coaching capacities at the professional and collegiate levels in the United States, Japan, and Thailand, he spent portions of three seasons as the head coach of the WNBA\u2019s Los Angeles Sparks.<\/p>\n
Arn Tellem, the vice chairman of the Pistons and formerly Kobe Bryant\u2019s agent, expressed his deep sadness over the passing of Joe \u201cJellybean\u201d Bryant and joined the basketball community in mourning a true Philly hoops legend. \u201cOur friendship opened the door for me to represent Kobe as he entered the NBA, a memory I\u2019ll always cherish. Joe was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, whose warmth touched everyone he met.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Associated Press and ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin both contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"