Fresh tragedy hits Kobe Bryant’s family

Kobe Bryant’s family have been hit by another unspeakable tragedy fours years after the basketballer died in a helicopter crash.

Former NBA player Joe Bryant, the father of the late Kobe Bryant, has died aged 69.

The elder Bryant, nicknamed “Jellybean” during his playing days, suffered a massive stroke recently, La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bryant’s death comes more than four years after his son and his granddaughter, Gigi Bryant, died in a horrific helicopter crash in California on January 26, 2020.

Kobe Bryant (right) laughs with father Joe Jelly Bean Bryant (left). Getty Images

Bryant, a 6-foot-9 forward, played for the Explorers from 1973-75 and was a member of the La Salle coaching staff from 1993-96.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the La Salle men’s basketball team said in a post on X.

Bryant, a forward out of La Salle, was a first-round pick, 14th overall, by the Warriors in the 1975 draft.

He went on to play eight NBA seasons for the 76ers, then-San Diego Clippers and Rockets before he took his talents overseas, having played for several teams in Italy.

According to the Inquirer, Joe’s relationship with son Kobe became strained as the Lakers legend built a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

Joe’s son Kobe Bryant (pictured with wife Vanessa Laine Bryant) died in 2020. (Photo by Jean-Baptiste LACROIX / AFP)

In 2016, the Lakers icon said he hadn’t spoken to his parents in almost three years after they attempted to auction off his high school memorabilia without asking him.

“Our relationship is sh**,” he told ESPN.

“I say (to them): ‘I’m going to buy you a very nice home,’ and the response is ‘That’s not good enough’... then you’re selling my sh**?”

- With the New York Post

Originally published as Fresh tragedy hits Kobe Bryant’s family