A lot of the Los Angeles Lakers faithful along with the rest of the NBA world were left distraught after the news of Joe Bryant's passing. The former head coach in the WNBA and other leagues was instrumental in the growth of the game. Perhaps, his greatest contribution to the world was being a great father to Kobe Bryant. A lot of legends noticed how differently the Black Mamba was raised due to his composure and killer mentality, including Magic Johnson.
Magic Johnson has not known any team in the association more than the Lakers. Every player that passes through the organization, the iconic point guard of the 1980s probably knew them and their families. This held true with Joe Bryant and Kobe Bryant. So, it was rough for him when he received the news of Joe's passing. He outlined how great the former WNBA coach was as well as the life he lived.
“I'm devastated to hear about the loss of my friend Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the father of Kobe Bryant. Joe was not only a talented basketball player; he was also a great coach. A lot of people don't know that he coached the LA Sparks in 2005, 2006, and 2011!” he wrote.
Joe started making waves when he was in La Salle. He would eventually get picked up by the Golden State Warriors with the 14th overall pick of the 1975 NBA Draft. From then on, he had stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets. He would then see his way out of the league and help his wife in raising their children. One of them, Kobe Bryant, followed his footsteps into the NBA and made an even bigger splash than he did.
“Joe was an exceptional human being with a radiant smile that had the power to brighten any room, and a great husband and father. Cookie and I are praying for his wife Pam, daughters Sharia and Shaya, and the rest of the Bryant family, friends, and all those who loved Joe,” Magic Johnson added.
Joe Bryant's colorful life that led to a Lakers legend being born
Basketball did not stop for Joe back when he played his last game in 1983. The father of the Lakers legend still played nine years in Europe which would explain why his children are multilingual. After that, he also started his coaching career.
Joe found his way by coaching the women's basketball team for the Akiba Hebrew Academy. A year later, his college alma mater got him to coach their team. He would then resign three years later to help Kobe with his NBA Draft aspirations. Eventually, Joe got back into coaching again in 2003 with Diablos. It would not be until two years after that he landed the WNBA head coaching job with the Los Angeles Sparks.
In the WNBA, he helped the Sparks to two postseason appearances. He got them a conference finals finish in his first season. They would improve to a Western Conference-leading record the year after but eventually lose to the conference finals yet again. Joe retired for some time but went back in 2011. Unfortunately, he could not lead the team to a postseason berth then.
His career then found him spending some time coaching in Japan up until 2015 before he finally retired for good.
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