We are all grieving at the loss of the fatal helicopter crash, but not more than Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, Father of the basketball legend Kobe and grandfather of Gianna.
He lost family this week and in his first public appearance since the crash, and according to what neighbors told DailyMail.com, he and his wife Pamela are shaken and saddened by the heartbreaking tragedy.
‘I talked to them twice yesterday and took over food and a card, and briefly today, they are just devastated, as you can imagine,’ the neighbor said, adding: ‘It’s a private, awful moment, losing their son and grand-daughter, it’s just horrific. I was talking to Joe briefly the day before, we were out for a walk, it was all happy and good and talking about the gorgeous weather and then it switched in 24 hours where their lives were turned upside down.’
Kobe and his Father may not have been close, but they were on the verge of repairing a relationship that had been rocky for years. The two were seen exchanging pleasantries during a basketball camp in California.
“I just remember being with him up at his camp in Santa Barbara and seeing him hug his dad. You know how they loved each other from how they looked at each other, how they smiled,” said Wayne Slappy, Kobe’s former coach and one of Joe’s friends, said of the two men.”
Kobe had a falling out with his parents in 2013, when they apparently tried to peddle out some of his old memorabilia.
Despite this, it seems there was an unbreakable bond between the Father and Son. And with Kobe gone from this world, Joe is left with only memories of his son to remember.
