July 16, 2024
Former La Salle basketball and 76ers player Joe "Jellybean" Bryant has passed away at the age of 69.
Bryant recently suffered a massive stroke, per Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Bryant was born in Philadelphia in 1954 and attended John Bartram High School in Southwest Philly before enrolling at La Salle University. Bryant was the 14th pick in the 1975 NBA Draft. He played four years for his hometown Sixers from 1975-1979. He was on the Sixers team that reached the NBA Finals in 1977. Bryant then played for the San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets before spending nearly 10 years playing overseas in France and Italy.
Bryant was an assistant coach at La Salle in the 1990s, the head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks from 2005-2007 and also spent time coaching internationally in Asia and Europe.
Bryant was the father of Basketball Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, who was a five-time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and passed away on Jan. 26, 2020.
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