Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a Philadelphia basketball hero who died Monday at the age of 69, played eight seasons in the NBA and is best known as the father of the late basketball great Kobe Bryant.

Kobe Bryant. Bryant spent many of his formative years in Italy, as his father Joe decided to take his playing career to Europe after leaving the Houston Rockets in 1983. Just six at the time ...

GEORGETOWN — Just over five years ago, basketball legend Kobe ... with Bryant developed because of his father's connection with Bryant's dad. “My father and Mr. Bryant, Joe Bryant, God ...