Skilled basketball veteran Joe Bryant has died on the age of 69, in keeping with his faculty alma mater.
The loss of life of the athlete and coach, who was the daddy of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant, was introduced by his former workforce, the La Salle College Explorers, on Tuesday.
“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the workforce posted in an announcement on social media.
“Joe played for the Explorers from 1973-75 and was a member of our coaching staff from 1993-96,” the assertion went on. “He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”
La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy advised The Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant just lately had a severe stroke.
Andrew D. Bernstein through Getty Pictures
Nicknamed “Jellybean” for his fondness for sweets, Bryant performed eight seasons within the NBA after being drafted as a first-round decide by the Golden State Warriors in 1975.
As soon as his run within the NBA led to 1983, Bryant thrived for a time in basketball’s European leagues. He retired from taking part in professional ball in 1991 and moved again to the Philadelphia space along with his household.
Bryant’s subsequent chapter was as a coach, main groups in Japan, Italy and Hong Kong and serving as head coach of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks from 2005 to 2007 and once more in 2011.
Bryant’s loss of life comes 4 and a half years after his son Kobe and his granddaughter Gigi died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, together with seven different folks. Kobe Bryant was 41. Gigi was 13.
Joe Bryant is survived by his spouse, Pam, and their daughters, Sharia B. Washington and Shaya Tabb.
