Before Kobe Bryant became a global icon, his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, was living the NBA dream. A 6-foot-9 forward, Joe played eight seasons in the league for the Philadelphia 76ers, San Diego Clippers, and Houston Rockets. He signed a lucrative contract early in his career, reportedly earning over $18 million in total.
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His peak, in terms of earnings, was in the 1980-81 season, when he reportedly made $4.3 million. While the numbers might not sound like a lot, considering the payment players receive today, it was monumental for his era.
However, Bryant couldn’t hold on to the fame and riches for a long time. His career fizzled out almost as fast as it started. In his book ‘Showboat,’ Roland Lazenby detailed an incident that nearly ruined Bryant’s life.
It all started with a traffic stop in Philadelphia. Bryant was in a flashy sports car with his girlfriend at the time and some cocaine. This was already a recipe for disaster, but on top of that, Bryant became more concerned about his wife Pam finding out about his act once the police stopped him. The officers reported that they stopped him due to a broken taillight.
Bryant immediately identified himself and provided the registration to the officers. However, he gave a confusing statement about his license. As a famous man with a wife and a kid at home, Bryant was panicking inside about the thought of his wife finding out about the incident. As the officers were looking at his registration, Bryant turned back toward his car.
Initially, the officers thought that he was going to retrieve his license. But the former NBA star had another thought in his mind. He hopped inside the car and fled. He drove over 100 miles an hour without a care in the world. It wasn’t until 12 minutes later that another police unit spotted Bryant. Even then, he tried to swerve around to escape, crashing into other cars on his way.
After wrecking his car and with the officers approaching, Bryant made one final attempt at fleeing. This time, on foot.
“Mercifully, the police did not fire the proverbial ‘warning shot’ at the fleeing Jellybean. In addition to being a fine hoopster, Bryant had been a track star in high school. Yet somehow, one of the officers, Robert Lombardi, managed to run him down in a matter of a few yards. When he did, Bryant turned to lash out,” Lazeny wrote in his book.
He was grabbed, struck, subdued, and handcuffed. “Bryant suffered a head injury that would require six stitches to close. Decades later, Gene Shue, who was then Bryant’s coach with the Sixers, recalled that police apparently issued a pretty severe beating to Bryant, a beating that would mark him with a profound sense of humiliation, one of many things that later troubled him for a long, long time,” Lazenby wrote.
In that moment, Bryant had several thoughts running through his head, including the thought of facing jail time. However, nothing instilled more fear in him than the thought of facing his wife following the incident.
