Joe Bryant obit

Philly hoops great Joe Bryant, father of NBA legend Kobe, has died

Bryant, who attended Bartram High School and La Salle, succumbed to a massive stroke. He was 69. 

He was not on the list.

Joe Bryant, the father of Kobe Bryant and a basketball star in his own right at Bartram High School, at La Salle, and over eight seasons in the NBA, has died.

He was 69.

Bryant recently suffered a massive stroke, La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy said Tuesday. Four and a half years have passed since his son and his granddaughter Gigi, along with seven other people, died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.

A 6-foot-9 forward with a memorable nickname — “Jellybean,” for his fondness of the candy — and an array of skills that presaged the arrival of players such as Magic Johnson and LeBron James, Bryant was the Public League Player of the Year in 1972, then averaged more than 20 points and 11 rebounds over two seasons at La Salle.

He was a first-round draft pick of the Golden State Warriors in 1975; the Warriors then sold his rights to the 76ers less than four months later. Bryant spent four seasons with his hometown team, coming off the bench for the Sixers’ 1976-77 team that advanced to the NBA Finals.

After the 1982-83 season, during which he played for the Houston Rockets, Bryant found greater individual success playing professionally in Europe, especially in Italy, before his family moved back to the Philadelphia region, settling in Wynnewood.

He and his son had been particularly close throughout Kobe’s childhood and decorated career at Lower Merion High School. But after Kobe joined the Los Angeles Lakers and embarked on what would be his Hall of Fame career in the NBA, their relationship became strained over time as Kobe sought more freedom and independence from his family. Joe Bryant had made no public comment about his son’s death.

He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also played for several teams in Italy and one in France. Bryant was the head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks from 2005 to 2007 and returned to that position for the remainder of the 2011 WNBA season. Bryant also coached in Italy, Japan, and Thailand.

After starring at La Salle Exd, he was traded to his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers, where he played for four seasons. In his second season, the 1976–77 76ers team, featured NBA all-stars Julius Erving, Doug Collins, and George McGinnis, they reached the 1977 NBA Finals, but eventually lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 4 games to 2.

Before the 1979–1980 season, the Sixers traded Bryant to the San Diego Clippers, where he spent three seasons. In the first game of the 1979–1980 season, played at home against the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant memorably had a slam dunk over center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Despite the dunk and a 46-point effort by teammate Lloyd Free (also his teammate on the Sixers), the Lakers prevailed on a game-winning sky hook by Abdul-Jabbar.

Career history

As player:

1975–1979            Philadelphia 76ers

1979–1982            San Diego Clippers

1982–1983            Houston Rockets

1983–1986            AMG Sebastiani Rieti

1986–1987            Standa Reggio Calabria

1987–1989            Olimpia Pistoia

1989–1991            Reggiana

1991            Mulhouse

As coach:

1992–1993            Akiba Hebrew Academy

1993–1996            La Salle (assistant)

2003–2004            Las Vegas Rattlers

2004–2005            Boston Frenzy

2005–2007            Los Angeles Sparks

2007–2009            Tokyo Apache

2010–2011            Levanga Hokkaido

2011    Los Angeles Sparks

2012            Bangkok Cobras

2013    Chang Thailand Slammers

2014–2015            Rizing Fukuoka

Career NBA statistics

Points   5,252 (8.7 ppg)

Rebounds            2,441 (4.0 rpg)

Assists  1,049 (1.7 apg)