Joe Bryant, a former NBA player and the father of Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, has been named the head coach of the Tokyo Apache of the "bj league," Japan's first professional basketball league which will open its inaugural season in November, team officials said Wednesday.
The 50-year-old Bryant will head the Tokyo-based team in the six-team league, which is officially called the Basketball Japan League and also features the Sendai 89ers, Niigata Albirex, Saitama Broncos, Osaka Deinonychus and Oita Heatdevils.
Bryant, a forward who joined the NBA as a top draft pick in 1975, played for eight seasons for teams including the Philadelphia 76ers.
He was a head coach-cum-player for the Boston Frenzy of the ABA, a U.S. independent league, last season and averaged 13 points in eight games.