{"id":86146,"date":"2024-07-16T13:35:20","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=86146"},"modified":"2024-07-16T13:35:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T17:35:20","slug":"8-year-nba-forward-joe-bryant-dies-at-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/16\/8-year-nba-forward-joe-bryant-dies-at-69\/","title":{"rendered":"8-Year NBA Forward Joe Bryant Dies at 69"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former NBA forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanjo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-16_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Bryant<\/a>, nicknamed &#8220;Jellybean,&#8221; has reportedly passed away at the age of 69 due to &#8220;a massive stroke,&#8221; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/sixers\/jo-bryant-jellybean-sixers-kobe-died-sixers-lasalle-20240716.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a>. News of Bryant&#8217;s death comes over four years after the tragic death of his son, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/01\/26\/lakers-legend-kobe-bryant-dead-at-41\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-16_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bryant<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Joe Bryant, former NBA player and father of Kobe Bryant, has passed away at the age of 69, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PhillyInquirer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@PhillyInquirer<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/shNzzUg9JO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/shNzzUg9JO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1813215740788342933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>8-Year NBA Forward Joe Bryant Dies at 69<\/h2>\n<h3>Joe Bryant&#8217;s NBA Career<\/h3>\n<p>The Philadelphia native was drafted by the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/14\/warriors-rumors-plans-for-15th-roster-spot-stephen-curry-and-potential-deals\/\" target=\"_self\">Golden State Warriors<\/a> with the No. 14 pick in the 1975 NBA Draft. However, the team traded him to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/11\/philadelphia-76ers-are-bringing-back-multi-time-nba-all-star-kyle-lowry\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> before he appeared in a game for them. Bryant spent the first four seasons of his career with the 76ers. During this time, he averaged 6.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 42.2% from the field. In 1977, Bryant played a small role in the 76ers&#8217; NBA Finals run, appearing in all six games of the series. However, the team went on to lose to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/waltobi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-16_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Walton<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/27\/trailblazers-hall-of-famer-passes-away\/\" target=\"_self\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1979, the 76ers traded Bryant to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/16\/the-san-diego-clippers-return-in-an-exciting-rebrand\/\" target=\"_self\">San Diego Clippers<\/a> for a 1986 first-round pick. This pick eventually became the No. 1 pick in the draft, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/daughbr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-16_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brad Daugherty<\/a>. Bryant played three seasons for the Clippers and took on a much larger role than he did with Philadelphia. During this time, the La Salle alum averaged 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.<\/p>\n<p>Despite playing solid basketball for the team, the Clippers traded Bryant to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/14\/rockets-promising-guard-reed-sheppard-fred-vanvleet-comparisons-to-nba-champion\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Rockets<\/a> in 1982. Bryant played just one season for the team, his last in the NBA. During the 1982-83 season, he averaged 10 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Bryant would go on to play overseas basketball in Italy and France from 1983 to 1992.<\/p>\n<p>In total, the former first-round pick appeared in 606 NBA games. During his career, Bryant averaged 8.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.<\/p>\n<p>Following his playing career, Bryant took on a coaching career. Most notably, he had a short stint as head coach for the WNBA&#8217;s Los Angeles Sparks.<\/p>\n<h3>Basketball World Reacts to Joe Bryant&#8217;s Death<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I&#8217;m devastated to hear about the loss of my friend Joe &#8220;Jellybean&#8221; Bryant, the father of Kobe Bryant. Joe was not only a talented basketball player; he was also a great coach. A lot of people don&#8217;t know that he coached the LA Sparks in 2005, 2006, and 2011! Joe was an exceptional\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BOZDg35YYi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/BOZDg35YYi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Earvin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsma02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-16_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magic Johnson<\/a> (@MagicJohnson) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MagicJohnson\/status\/1813247919979721180?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant.<\/p>\n<p>Joe played for the Explorers from 1973-75 and was a member of our coaching staff from 1993-96. He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A3sgZzVkkt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/A3sgZzVkkt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 La Salle Men\u2019s Basketball (@LaSalle_MBB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LaSalle_MBB\/status\/1813225708887679273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">RIP Joe &#8220;Jellybean&#8221; Bryant \ud83d\udd4a\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Joe Bryant&#8217;s legacy lives on through the impact he had on basketball and his family. A talented player in his own right, he passed down his passion and skills to his son Kobe, helping shape one of the greatest to ever play the game.<\/p>\n<p>Our thoughts\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/r8VRKmEBDv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/r8VRKmEBDv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 All the Smoke Productions (@allthesmokeprod) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/allthesmokeprod\/status\/1813252373961449894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former NBA forward Joe Bryant, nicknamed &#8220;Jellybean,&#8221; has reportedly passed away at the age of 69 due to &#8220;a massive stroke,&#8221; according to Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer. News of Bryant&#8217;s death comes over four years after the tragic death of his son, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Joe Bryant, former NBA player [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":86147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,25,31,27,26,62,3,13],"tags":[1054,2066,551],"class_list":["post-86146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-warriors","category-rockets","category-clippers","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","category-76ers","tag-bill-walton","tag-brad-daughtery","tag-kobe-bryant"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}