Jellybean had recently suffered a massive stroke.
Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was a former NBA basketball player who passed away at the age of 69.
The men’s basketball team at La Salle University, where he played collegiate ball from 1973 to 1975, made his passing widely known on social media.
According to Fran Dumphy, head coach of La Salle Men’s Basketball, Jellybean just experienced a huge stroke, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. The older Bryant attended La Salle University after playing basketball at Philadelphia’s Bartram High School.
Bryant, a 6-foot-9-inch forward, was named the Public League Player of the Year in 1972 while he was a player at Bartram. During his two seasons of collegiate play, Bryant averaged over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game.
The Golden State Warriors selected him in the first round of the 1975 NBA Draft after he left La Salle. The Philadelphia 76ers, his hometown team, purchased his rights from the Warriors less than four months later. As a member of the 1976–77 club that lost to the Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals, Bryant had four seasons of NBA experience with the 76ers.
Before advancing to Europe to continue his professional career, he also played for the Houston Rockets. During his eight-year NBA career, Bryant averaged 8.7 points and 4 rebounds in 606 games with the San Diego Clippers (now the Los Angeles Clippers), according to ESPN.
Following a prosperous stint in Europe, Bryant returned to Philadelphia with his family, raising a young Kobe there.
In 1992, Bryant began his coaching career. From 1993 to 1996, he returned to his old institution, La Salle, as an assistant coach. He had coaching positions in Thailand and Japan prior to leading the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (2005–2007, 2011).