Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, the father of the Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Byrant, died at 69 due to a stroke. The Philadelphia native had a decent basketball career. Also, Kobe Bryant’s father displayed good coaching skills by elevating the teams he coached to recognizable feats.
However, outside Joe Byrant’s career, his personal life and relationship with his son, Kobe Byrant, was unstable. Mind you, it wasn’t the auction case between Kobe and the parents that started it. What made Joe’s relationship with Kobe Bryant rocky?
Joe Bryant’s Basketball Career
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After an impressive performance at La Salle Exd, the Golden State Warriors drafted Joe Bryant with their No. 14 slot in 1975. Thus, the forward was in this first-round overall. Not too long after the draft, the Warriors traded Bryant to the Philadelphia 76ers where he played for four seasons (1975-1979).
Byrant had his NBA Championship berth in 1977 where he lost to the Portland Trail Blazers as the Sixers went 2-for-4 in six games. After the Sixers, the 6’ 9 forward got traded to the San Diego Clippers where he played for three seasons (1979-1982). Finally, Bryant finished his NBA career with the Houston Rockets where he played for one season (1982-1983)
Joe Bryant’s NBA Stats
Throughout his NBA career, Byrant played 606 games averaging 8.7 points, four rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game with 49.9 TS%. Also, in his playoff career, he averaged 4.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He went on to play in Italy and France then retired from basketball in 1991 at Mulhouse. Furthermore, Joe Bryant was also known as Jellybean throughout his basketball career because he had a vast array of moves. Finally, Jellybean’s basketball highlight was his dunk on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when on the San Diego Clippers.
Jellybean’s Coaching Career
A year after retirement, Byrant started his coaching journey at Akiba Hebrew Academy where he coached for one year (1992-1993). Also, he served as an assistant coach at La Salle for three years (1993-1996).
After coaching several college teams, Joe Byrant took over as the head coach of the WNBA team, Los Angeles Sparks, in 2005. As the Sparks coach, the 69-year-old recorded 25 wins in 34 games as the LA Sparks clinched their playoff final berth in 2006. Further, the former basketball player coached the Sparks for two full seasons (2005-2007) and 2011, then went on to coach in Italy, Japan, and Thailand.
Joe’s Rocky Relationship With Kobe Bryant
Joe Bryant and Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s rocky relationship took a huge leap during the auction court case with Joe’s wife, Pamela. However, this wasn’t the true cause of the friction. It had to do with Kobe’s interest in the former Vanessa Laine.
There’s an iconic picture of Kobe sitting and clutching the Larry O’Brien trophy in the shower room when he won the NBA Championship in 2001. While in that position, Kobe cried, not because of the win but because of his father, Joe Byrant.
Two reasons intrigued Joe’s unstable relationship with his son. One of these was Joe’s effort to restrain Kobe Bryant’s freedom. Secondly, Joe wasn’t comfortable with Kobe’s wife’s race. According to the Los Angeles Times:
The initial estrangement dates to Bryant and the former Vanessa Laine getting married in April 2001, and the subsequent move of the younger couple from Pacific Palisades to Newport Coast, closer to where Vanessa’s family was rooted in Orange County. Joe was uneasy with his son’s utter devotion to Vanessa and also uncomfortable that she was a Latina, not African American.
Final Thoughts
It’s sad to lose another elite veteran former basketball player and coach at 69 years old to a stroke. The WNBA former head coach made an impact on the world through his own skill and through his son Kobe Bryant, who passed away four years ago. Though Joe’s relationship with Kobe was shaky after Kobe joined the Lakers, the news of his son’s death affected him emotionally.
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