Joe Bryant, Basketball Player and Kobe’s Father, Dies at 69

Joe Bryant, the father of the basketball star Kobe Bryant and an N.B.A. player for eight seasons, died on Tuesday. He was 69.

His death was confirmed by the athletic department at La Salle University, where he played college basketball. It did not provide information on where or how he died.

Joseph Washington Bryant was born on Oct. 19, 1954, in Philadelphia. He attended Bartram High School and then La Salle, where he averaged 19 and 22 points a game in two seasons.

Known as Jellybean because he enjoyed that candy, Bryant was drafted 14th overall in the 1975 N.B.A. draft by the Golden State Warriors. But he and the Warriors could not agree on a salary, so before his career began the Warriors traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers.

His path was not the smooth ride of a superstar. He struggled for a starting spot and failed to match the kind of point totals he had in college. In his rookie season, he was charged with possession of cocaine after a high-speed chase with the police. But he was acquitted after a judge ruled the police had searched his car illegally.

Bryant, a 6-foot-9 forward, spent four seasons as a backup in Philadelphia before stretches with the San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets. After the 1983 season, he left the league and found greater success playing overseas in Italy, where his son, Kobe, spent part of his childhood.