Joe Bryant, Former N.B.A. Player and Kobe's Father, Is Dead at 69
Joe Bryant, a college basketball standout, an N.B.A. player for eight seasons and the father of the basketball star Kobe Bryant, died on Tuesday. He was 69.
His death was confirmed by the athletic department at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he played college basketball. It did not say where he died or give the cause of death.
Bryant, a 6-foot-9 forward who was known as Jellybean because he enjoyed that candy, averaged 19 and 22 points a game in two seasons at La Salle before he was chosen 14th overall in the 1975 N.B.A. draft by the Golden State Warriors.
But he and the Warriors could not agree on a salary, so before his career began, the Warriors traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/sports/joe-bryant-dead.html