Kobe Bryant’s Father Was Asked to Leave the NBA and Become a Salesman by Houston Rockets Owner Due to Poor Form

Kobe Bryant and his legacy thrive in the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers legend enjoyed an illustrious career, guiding the franchise to success year after year. Like many other NBA players, Kobe enjoyed the warmth of an amiable family. A recent story revealed how an NBA franchise owner asked Kobe’s father, who was also an NBA star, to leave the NBA.

The owner of the Houston Rockets once asked Kobe Bryant’s father, Joe Bryant, to abandon his NBA career and take up an alternate job as a salesman. The host, Mike Sielski, of the ‘I Am Kobe’ podcast, revealed this astonishing story about Joe. Kobe’s father went through poor form during a period of his Rockets career, hence forcing the owner to admonish him.

Sielski said, “In 1979, they traded him to one of the NBA’s worst teams, the San Diego Clippers. Who in turn traded him to in 1982 to another of the league’s worst teams, the Houston Rockets. That season was so bad for Joe and the team that the Rockets owner offered him a job afterward as a salesman at one of the guy’s car franchises.”

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Sielski talks about Joe’s life story for the rest of the episode. He looks at how Joe’s career directions shaped Kobe’s life and his eventual NBA career. Despite Joe’s failure to enjoy a successful NBA career, his son, fulfilled his father’s aspirations.

Kobe Bryant’s relationship with his father, Joe Bryant

Kobe was the youngest child of Joe Bryant and Pamela Bryant. The Bryant couple shared three children, that included Kobe’s two older sisters. Kobe enjoyed a good relationship with his parents before his marriage to Vannessa Laine. His parents did not support his decision to get married at such an early stage in his career.

However, the relationship between Kobe and his parents reportedly improved after the birth of Kobe’s first daughter in 2003. Kobe’s death in 2020 devastated his parents.

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Joe has mentioned that he remains a fan of the Lakers despite Kobe’s absence on the roster, saying, “You become a fan when your child is playing for them.”