Joe Bryant, Kobe’s father, passed away on July 16, 2024. He was 69. The cause of death was not revealed. However, Fran Dunphy, head coach at La Salle, shared that he suffered a stroke.

Over three decades of his basketball career, Joe Jellybean Bryant embraced a diverse career. Starting with the NBA, he went to play in Italy, followed by his coaching stint in the WNBA and several Asian teams. His journey had sparked interest in a young Kobe Bryant, who went on to become one of the biggest names in basketball. As the father gunned ahead accumulating trophies and honors, his wife, Pamela Cox Bryant stayed by his side. She supported him right from his NBA rookie year.

Four years after losing her son, Pam mourns yet another significant piece of her life. Here’s a little about her life.

Who is Pamela Cox Bryant?

Cox is an American socialite born on 26th March 1954. She was 21 when she married Joe Bryant in 1975 – the same year he was drafted into the NBA as the 14th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors.

Shooting into the limelight there, her name persisted with Kobe Bryant’s rise to fame. Joe and Pam on the courtside of many of their son’s games have been one happy image among the family. However, her association with basketball does not end there.

Pam’s brother, Chubby Cox, was also a basketball player. Cox was drafted in the eighth round by the NBA team Chicago Bulls in 1978. Though he had a brief stint with the cash-rich league, he would forever be remembered for playing seven games for the Washington Bullets in 1983.

Pam and Joe shared three kids – Sharia, Shaya, and Kobe. The two sisters took on an entrepreneurial path, with the latter pursuing a degree in business. But that remains the extent of the knowledge of their lives. Apart from them, Pam is the aunt to John Cox IV who is also a professional baller. Looks like she has some association with basketball written in her destiny. But unfortunately, Pamela had a strained relationship with her son, Kobe.

Pam Cox and Joe Bryant’s strained relationship with Kobe Bryant

It was 1999. The year when Kobe’s life was about to change after meeting Vanessa Laine. The duo met on the sets of a music video when Kobe was 20, whereas Vanessa was only 17. The two decided to meet at Disneyland for their first date and quickly fell in love. Their love, much like Kobe, who would later defy all situations and injuries to play ball, was rebellious.

They got engaged as Vanessa turned 18 and married in 2001 only after two years of dating. However, something did not just sit right with Kobe’s parents. They reportedly did not want their son to be married so young and wanted their opinion to be taken seriously about his partner. It could have been more so since Kobe was the youngest child in his family.

In fact, Joe and Pam decided to not attend his wedding in 2001, which expanded the rift between them. The problems continued for over two years until Kobe and Vanessa became parents to a beautiful daughter. That somehow struck an empathetic chord with Kobe’s parents, who accepted their granddaughter, Natalia. But unfortunately, more problems were waiting.

When Pam Cox tried to sell Kobe’s items

The problems resurfaced between them when Pamela, alongside Joe, wanted to auction items from Kobe Bryant’s early years and claimed that she had the right to the memorabilia. This escalated to include lawsuits and public apologies.

Pam had received a whopping $450,000 in advance from the auction house. The items she wanted to sell included gears from his high school, trophies, and rings among other things. Pam Cox was in charge until Kobe’s lawyers jumped in.

Kobe’s lawyers sent the auction house a notice to give back all the items to Kobe. His parents claimed that Kobe had given these items as a gift to them and that it was completely their outlook on how to utilize them. But Kobe was not on the same page. Instead, a legal battle ensued with the auction house and Kobe regarding the ownership of the items. As mentioned before, to make matters worse Pam had already made $450,000 as advance from the deal.

When a conclusion was reached, Kobe Bryant allowed the sale of six basketball items. Furthermore, Pam and Joe had to make a written apology to their son and also acknowledge the financial support Kobe had given them in the past. This all led to matters getting worse.

But by 2016, the family reportedly reconciled when Joe was seen hugging Kobe. “You know how they loved each other from how they looked at each other, how they smiled,” family friend Wayne Slappy says via PEOPLE. Though Pam’s relationship with Venessa remains unknown, the latter extended her condolences on Joe’s passing. “Kobe loved him very much. Our prayers go out to family,” she wrote. Strength is all one could lend to the Bryant family for now.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.