Tag: Joe Bryant

Joe Jellybean Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s father, is dead at age 69

Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, reportedly passed away on Tuesday.

Kobe Bryant became Los Angeles Lakers royalty by driving them to five NBA championships and accomplishing many individual honors. Along the way, he created many unforgettable memories and left an indelible mark on the Southern California sports scene.

One reason Bryant was able to become one of the greatest NBA players ever was the fact that his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was an NBA player himself. That gave the younger Bryant the opportunity to grow up around the sport while having access to the type of training and development that helped him reach his potential.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the elder Bryant had passed away at the age of 69.

Via ESPN:

“Former NBA player Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, the father of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, has died. He was 69.

“An official cause of Bryant’s death was not announced as of Tuesday morning. La Salle University, where Bryant played and coached, said in a statement that Bryant ‘was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.’

“Longtime Philadelphia-area basketball coach Fran Dunphy, who currently is the head coach at La Salle, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Bryant recently suffered a massive stroke.”

The elder Bryant played eight seasons in the NBA from 1975 to 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets. He was a flashy player with plenty of athleticism who could occasionally produce a highlight play or two.

He then went on to spend several years playing professional ball in Italy before he moved his family back to Philly in the early 1990s. In 1993, he became an assistant coach at La Salle University, the school he played his college ball at.

The elder Bryant would hold several other coaching gigs in the years to come, including two separate stints as the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks. His Sparks would reach the conference finals in both 2005 and 2006.

The younger Bryant, of course, died along with his daughter Gianna and seven others in a tragic helicopter crash in January 2020.

NBA fans paid tribute to Joe ‘Jellybean’ Bryant, the father of the late Kobe Bryant, who died at 69

Joe Bryant, the father of the late Kobe Bryant, has died at 69 years old.

Joe Bryant, the father of the late Kobe Bryant, has died at 69 years old.

Bryant was the No. 14 overall pick in the 1975 NBA Draft out of La Salle University. He played eight seasons in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets. He later played several years of basketball overseas in Italy and France.

After his playing career, he had a lengthy coaching career as well. That included time as an assistant at his alma mater, La Salle. He also coached in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks and in Japan and Thailand.

Alongside his son, Bryant was also briefly a minority owner for the Olimpia Milano club in Italy. Many fans and teams paid their respects for the former NBA player, whose son won five NBA championships and tragically died in 2020:

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Where Rockets rank among the greatest nicknames in NBA history

“Hakeem the Dream” and “Clyde the Glide” are among Houston’s best contributions to elite NBA nicknames, but they’re far from alone. Here’s a comprehensive list through Rockets history.

The best sports nicknames are colorful accents that effortlessly add a dash of flavor to the games we watch and play.

Some originate as terms of endearment, while others are bestowed as labels of ineptitude. That got us wondering about where some of the greatest players in basketball history — such as Michael Jordan (Air), LeBron James (King James) and Earvin Johnson (Magic) — rank in the pantheon of great NBA nicknames.

Baseball, with its long and rich history, once generated vivid monikers such as the Sultan of Swat (Babe Ruth) and the Splendid Splinter (Ted Williams). But basketball, with its playground roots and hip-hop culture, arguably is the sport with the most imaginative sports nicknames today.

With that in mind, Thomas Neumann of Rookie Wire took a shot at ranking the 101 greatest nicknames in NBA history. See below for where players with ties to the Houston Rockets were ranked in that list.

All nickname commentary and history is from Neumann.

10 players in Sixers history show up on 101 greatest nickname list

10 members in the storied history of the Philadelphia 76ers show up on the 101 greatest nicknames list.

A nickname cannot be given or self-made, it has to be earned. Throughout the history of the NBA, we have all seen the greats earn some sort of nickname through their amazing play on the floor.

In today’s game, we know of Joel “The Process” Embiid, Damian “Dame Dolla” Lillard, LeBron “King” James, and Stephen “Chef” Curry among countless others. There have been many great nicknames in the history of the game.

The Philadelphia 76ers have seen their share of terrific players don the red, white and blue colors, and they have earned some pretty iconic nicknames. Our sister site, Rookie Wire, put together the 101 greatest nicknames in NBA history, and the Sixers have 10 players show up on the list.

The 10 Sixers on the list are as follows in descending order:

For little Kobe Bryant growing up in …

For little Kobe Bryant growing up in Italy, the player that amazed him as a child was a skinny and half bald Brazilian guard who often beat his father’s teams with long distance shots. Oscar Schmidt, one of basketball’s all-time leading scorers with almost 50,000 points, played with Italian teams between 1982 and 1993. It was there that the son of Joe Bryant started going to courts to watch his father in action and, when possible, take a few shots himself.

Schmidt said he never talked to Bryant …

Schmidt said he never talked to Bryant as a child but frequently spotted him in the stands cheering for his father. ”He was a bit annoying to be honest,” Schmidt said fondly. ”He went to every all-star game in Italy, jumped onto the court before the game, at halftime and in the end just to shoot until someone dragged him out. At 7, 8 years of age he would not leave the court unless somebody picked him up. We could definitely see he was going to be a great shooter and a great dribbler, he had that from the start.”