Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the former journeyman NBA power forward/center now best remembered as the dad to Hall of Fame Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, had a complicated relationship with his son.
Per Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times, Joe Bryant and his wife Pamela were not invited to Kobe Bryant’s 2001 wedding to wife Vanessa. Bresnahan adds that Joe and Pamela were only in attendance during the Lakers’ run to the 2010 title — Kobe Bryant’s last, during which he would earn his second consecutive Finals MVP honor — thanks to the generosity of an L.A. fan, not Kobe himself.
According to Kate Sheehy of The New York Post, their relationship got icy again when the Bryant parents tried to auction off two of Kobe’s high school uniforms and two of his championship rings without alerting him first.
During an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN in 2016, Kobe Bryant got brutally candid.
“Our relationship is s—,” the 18-time All-Star said. “I say, ‘I’m going to buy you a very nice home,’ and the response is, ‘That’s not good enough?’ Then you’re selling my s—?”
Per Sheehy, the five-time NBA champ had been attempting to improve his relationship with his father and mother prior to his tragic passing in a January 2020 helicopter accident, which also claimed the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, along with seven other souls.
In a new conversation with Tarohn Finley of Sports Rap Radio, Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson shed some light on how Joe Bryant put Kobe Bryant in a position to succeed thanks to his lengthy pro career and some critical 1996 NBA Draft finagling that helped the 6-foot-6 swingman fall to the Lakers with the No. 13 overall pick (via trade).
“I believe that Jelly put Kobe in the right situations,” Robinson said. “I think that Joe ‘Jelly Bean’ was, No. 1, LeBron before LeBron as far as the business of his son goes… There was a lot… vested into what city Kobe was going to be playing in, and his sneaker contract. As you know, there [were] a lot of conversations with his agent and other teams about where Kobe would go and whether he would suit up or not… You saw Bronny James ultimately going to the Lakers and the business side of what his agent Rich Paul was doing were some of the things that were [similar to] the inner workings of what Jelly Bean and Kobe’s agent were doing. The New Jersey Nets almost became a suitor for Kobe in the draft. I believe Jelly put Kobe in the right situations because of his relationships and his experiences, even dating back to when Jelly played for the Philadelphia 76ers, and had Kobe in the locker room with [Julius Irving], and the visiting locker room with Magic Johnson and more.”
Beyond just the networking opportunities, merchandise options and eventual NBA landing spot, Robinson opines that a lot of Kobe’s on-court behavior was learned from Joe Bryant.
“I also think that his footwork and some of the glimpses of things that you saw with Kobe are a direct result of his father putting him in those positions [to succeed]. Unfortunately their relationship kind of diminished a lot and people focused on that.”
