(RepublicanPress.org) – The Los Angeles Lakers’ legendary shooting guard Kobe Bryant, 41, and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna perished in California, in January 2020. The helicopter they were using to travel from Ventura County to Thousand Oaks crashed into the side of a mountain in dense fog. Sadly, recent news reports indicated that his father and retired professional basketball player and coach, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, has died at 69.
On July 16, the La Salle Men’s Basketball X/Twitter page posted a brief statement announcing the death of “basketball great Joe Bryant.” The notice reminded fans that the elder Bryant played for La Salle University’s Explorers for three seasons, ending in 1975 and as a couch from 1993 to 1996. The notice concluded by noting that Bryant was a “beloved member of the Explorer family and [would] be greatly missed.”
Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s Father, Dies At 69 Following Massive Stroke https://t.co/wwKZnRgx5j
— VIBE Magazine (@VibeMagazine) July 16, 2024
John Cox, Bryant’s nephew and an assistant coach for the La Salle Explorers, also issued a statement about his uncle’s death. He said he was “heartbroken by the sudden loss,” adding that he “grew up admiring” him. He noted that his uncle’s impact on the Philadelphia basketball community and La Salle would “be felt for years to come.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke with La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy about Bryant’s passing. He said the former player recently suffered from a massive stroke. However, Bryant’s exact cause of death remains unclear.
Bryant’s professional career began in 1975 after the Golden State Warriors recruited him. However, they traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers the following year, where he played for four years.
Bryant played for the San Diego Clippers from 1979 to 182 and the Houston Rockets from 1982 to 1983. He also played overseas for teams in Italy and France from 1982 to 1992, at which point he ended his playing career.
The elder Bryant spend portions of the next two decades as a basketball coach. He was the head coach for the women’s varsity team at Pennsylvania’s Akiba Hebrew Academy from 1992 to 1993. In mid-1993, he accepted a position as assistant coach at La Salle, where he remained until 1996.
Over the next nine years, Bryant coached for several US-based organizations like the Diablos, a SlamBall team, two ABA teams, the Los Angeles Sparks (a WNBA team), and a few overseas basketball teams, including the Tokyo Apache and Bangkok Cobras.
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