Joe Bryant, the daddy of Kobe Bryant and a basketball star in his personal proper at Bartram Excessive Faculty, at La Salle, and over eight seasons within the NBA, died Monday.
He was 69.
Bryant just lately suffered a large stroke, La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy mentioned Tuesday. 4 and a half years have handed since his son and his granddaughter Gianni, together with seven different folks, died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.
John Cox, Bryant’s nephew and an assistant males’s basketball coach at La Salle, mentioned in a press release that he was “heartbroken by the sudden lack of my uncle. He was a basketball icon within the metropolis of Philadelphia and somebody I grew up admiring. The influence he has made each right here at La Salle and within the Philly basketball neighborhood will likely be felt for years to come back.”
A 6-foot-9 ahead with a memorable nickname — “Jellybean,” for his fondness of the sweet — and an array of abilities that presaged the arrival of gamers comparable to Magic Johnson and LeBron James, Bryant was the Public League Participant of the 12 months in 1972, then averaged greater than 20 factors and 11 rebounds over two seasons at La Salle.
He was a first-round draft choose of the Golden State Warriors in 1975; the Warriors then bought his rights to the 76ers lower than 4 months later. Bryant spent 4 seasons along with his hometown crew, coming off the bench for the Sixers’ 1976-77 crew that superior to the NBA Finals.
After the 1982-83 season, throughout which he performed for the Houston Rockets, Bryant discovered higher particular person success enjoying professionally in Europe, particularly in Italy, earlier than his household moved again to the Philadelphia area, settling in Wynnewood.
He and his son had been notably shut all through Kobe’s childhood and embellished profession at Decrease Merion Excessive Faculty. However after Kobe joined the Los Angeles Lakers and launched into what can be his Corridor of Fame profession within the NBA, their relationship turned strained over time as Kobe sought extra freedom and independence from his household. Joe Bryant had made no public remark about his son’s loss of life.
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