Joe Bryant, KOBE BRYANT’S dad, died at the age of 69.
The former basketball player and coach is said to have had a “massive stroke” not long ago.
Joe Bryant died four and a half years after the tragic deaths of his son Kobe, who was 41 at the time, and granddaughter Gigi, who was 13.
After retiring, Bryant played for top NBA teams like the 76ers, Clippers, and Rockets.
In the 1975 NBA Draft, the NBA picked the huge forward in the first round, 6 feet 9 inches tall.
Besides his time in the NBA, he also played professionally in Europe, where he had the most success.
During his coaching career, he was in charge of teams in the US, Japan, and Thailand, including the LA Sparks of the WNBA.
Bryant liked sweets so much that people called him “Jellybean.”
People have already started to say nice things about the beloved character.
La Salle University, Bryant’s college basketball team, wrote on X, “We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant.”
I worked with Joe as a coach from 1993 to 1996. He played for the Explorers from 1973 to 1975.
“He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer said that Joe Bryant and his son Kobe had a close relationship when Kobe was a child, but that their relationship grew strained when Kobe joined the LA Lakers.
Bryant Sr. had not said anything in public about Kobe’s death in 2020.
When their helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California in January 2020, Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people on board died.