“He comes in the league with all that stuff and they call it magic” – Why Joe Bryant initially had a problem with Magic Johnson’s nickname originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When Los Angeles Lakers superstar Earvin Magic Johnson took the league by storm during his rookie year in 1979, the consensus adored the young rising superstar. Johnson, who came fresh out of Michigan State University, was the ultimate media darling, and it helped that his style of play, specifically his penchant for passing the ball, made him even more appealing as a player.
Advertisement
Johnson’s ability to creatively pass the ball and create opportunities for his teammates was what initially earned him the nickname Magic during his sophomore year of high school. Everyone was on board with it, at least publicly, except a grumpy old Joe Bryant, who felt that he should’ve been perceived the way Earvin was.
“He comes in the league with all that stuff and they call it magic,” Bryant once said, according to what Mike Sielski wrote in his book: “The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality.” “I’ve been doing it all these years and they call it ‘schoolyard.'”
Joe didn’t like how he was perceived
By the time Johnson set foot in the league, Bryant was already on his way out and pretty much had the reputation as a bust five years into the league. So it wasn’t that Jellybean had animosity towards the Laker rookie, but more so anger towards the NBA and the media for writing him off so quickly. Throughout his eight years in the league, the 6’10” power forward always went underappreciated by the media.
Advertisement
“When he’s playing good which is most of the time, nobody hardly mentions him except to say, ‘Well, he made this made mistake.’ And when he’s playing really good, people say, ‘Well, he ought to play better,” Joe’s wife, Pamela Bryant, once said.
To be fair to the media, Bryant’s career didn’t turn out like his son’s. After a successful collegiate career as a member of the La Salle Explorers from 1973 to 1975, where he averaged 21.8 points in his last year, Joe’s talent didn’t translate in the pros, which ultimately led him to hop from one team to another.
Joe went from being selected 14th overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1975 NBA draft to being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he had to accept a bench role. He was then traded again to the San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets, where Jellybean played his last year in the NBA before pursuing basketball overseas, particularly in Italy. Unlike Johnson, Bryant just couldn’t find his footing in the league, which was why the media never loved him the way they loved the superstar point guard.
Advertisement
Joe played like Magic
Bryant felt pity for himself in the first place because he felt he was Johnson before the latter developed into the superstar that he eventually became. Joe may have been a forward, but his speed was top-tier, and he was an extremely versatile player who could do everything his coach asked him to do.
Advertisement
“As his skinny body grew corded with muscle, he retained the showy handy-eye coordination he’d always possessed, dribbling the basketball between his legs, swirling it behind his back, spinning to the hoop as if he were smaller, as if he were a guard,” wrote Sielski when describing Bryant’s game.
Unfortunately, Jellybean’s professional career never panned out, even though he had the tools to thrive and make a name for himself. Instead, he’s more well-known as Kobe Bryant‘s father, who eventually became Magic’s successor on the Lakers.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 28, 2025, where it first appeared.