Joe Bryant

Professional career

After a standout college career at La Salle University, Bryant was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA draft but immediately traded to his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. Over four seasons with the Sixers, he played alongside future Hall of Famers Julius Erving, Doug Collins, and George McGinnis during the 1976–77 campaign, a season that ended with a six-game NBA Finals loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

In 1979, Philadelphia sent Bryant to the San Diego Clippers, where he spent three seasons and famously dunked over center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1979–80 season opener. He was traded to the Houston Rockets for the 1982–83 season, his last in the NBA. From 1982 to 1992, Bryant played overseas for Italian clubs Sebastiani Rieti, Standa Reggio Calabria, Olimpia Pistoia, and Reggiana, as well as French team Mulhouse, ending his playing career in 1992.

Coaching career

Bryant's first head coaching job came in the 1992–93 season with the women's varsity team at Akiba Hebrew Academy in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, after his return from Europe. He left that role in June 1993 to become an assistant coach at his alma mater, La Salle University, resigning on May 7, 1996, following his son Kobe's announcement that he would enter the NBA directly from high school. In 2003, Bryant coached the Diablos in SlamBall, and from 2003 to 2005 he led two ABA teams, the Las Vegas Rattlers and the Boston Frenzy.

On August 17, 2005, after serving as an assistant, he was promoted to head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, replacing Henry Bibby. In 2006, he guided the Sparks to a 25–9 record and a Western Conference Finals appearance. He was replaced by Michael Cooper in April 2007 but returned to the Sparks in 2011, first as an assistant and later as head coach for the remainder of that season. Internationally, Bryant coached the Tokyo Apache from 2007 to 2009, signed a contract with Italian club Sebastiani Rieti in July 2009 that fell through due to the team's move to Naples, led Levanga Hokkaido during the 2010–11 JBL season, coached the Bangkok Cobras in 2012 and the Chang Thailand Slammers in 2013, and finished with Rizing Fukuoka from 2014 to 2015.

Personal life and death

Bryant married Pam Cox in 1975; she is the sister of former NBA player John "Chubby" Cox III. Their son Kobe, an NBA player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, died in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020, alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. Bryant also had two daughters, Sharia and Shaya. The family is Catholic. He died on July 15, 2024, at age 69; The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that he had recently suffered a major stroke.