Kobe Bryant’s 18-year-old daughter Natalia shared a heartwarming Instagram snap of herself all dressed up for her senior prom. Natalia posted the picture Monday evening two nights after the event – which her mother Vanessa revealed she ‘almost missed’ over the weekend.
Her senior prom was scheduled the same evening as her late father’s induction ceremony into the NBA Hall Of Fame.
She got a comment reading: ‘I love you baby!’ from her mother as well as gushing praise from various famous names.
Lily Collins, Kelly Rowland, Bella B. Harris, Yara Shahidi, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Meyer were among the celebrities who commented. Natalia also posted Insta Stories footage of herself in her bubblegum pink prom dress and affectionately spoofed The Princess Diaries.
Her Stories then cut to clips of her twirling around in her frock, in a nod to the way Anne’s frumpy character in the movie is transformed into a glamorous royal. Although Vanessa was at Kobe’s induction she did make her presence felt on Natalia’s prom night with help from party planner Mindy Weiss. Natalia posted an Insta Stories snap of a living room with a huge pink balloon display covering the ceiling and spelling out ‘PROM’ against the curtains.
She also had some help from her ‘Auntie Celi’ in ‘Getting ready for prom,’ she revealed in a selfie she posted Monday night.Natalia lost her father and 13-year-old sister Gianna last January in a tragic helicopter crash that also claimed seven other lives. Kobe’s posthumous Hall Of Fame induction was initially scheduled for last August before being postponed to this month on account of the pandemic.
Natalia, the eldest of his four daughters, was on hand for the Awards Gala on Friday night but had to skip the actual induction on Saturday for her prom. On Sunday Vanessa posted a sweet selfie with Natalia and wrote in the caption: ‘Natalia almost missed her senior prom last night.’
Vanessa continued: ‘When I was a senior in high school, Kobe and I were engaged and he had a playoff game the night of my prom. Kobe didn’t want me going to prom without him and I didn’t want to go without him.’Kobe and Vanessa met when he was 21 and she was 17, becoming engaged while she was still a senior in high school.
Vanessa wrote this Sunday: ‘When we heard Natalia’s prom night and Kobe’s Hall of Fame night were on the same night, I looked at Natalia and said,” well if it’s any consolation, daddy kept me from going to my prom, so it’s only right that he tried to keep you from going to yours.”‘
She added: ‘Of course we laughed because even in heaven, he’s still trying to make moves and keep the boys away.’
Vanessa reflected: ‘Natalia’s experienced so much loss, I couldn’t let her miss out on her once in a lifetime opportunity to go to her senior prom. Thank you for flying out to accept daddy’s Hall of Fame jacket and fly home the next morning.’
When Kobe himself was just 17 he attended his senior prom with the singer Brandy whose little brother is Kim Kardashian’s Viral tape co-star Ray J.