Brandy has broken her silence about the death of Kobe Bryant, who had taken her to his high school prom more than 20 years ago, and weeks before he was drafted to the NBA.
The retired Los Angeles Lakers star, one of the most popular and successful basketball players of all time, died at age 41 in a helicopter crash on Sunday along with 13-year-old Gianna Bryant, one of his and wife Vanessa Bryant's four daughters, and seven other people, including two other teenage girls.
"Never will I understand," Brandy, 40, wrote on Instagram on Friday, alongside an image of Kobe hugging Gianna. "My condolences to @vanessabryant , the entire family, and all in pain during this tragic time. Love ♥️ #Mamba #Mambacita."
In May 1996, at age 17, Brandy, a rising R&B singer and star of the hit sitcom Moesha, was Kobe's date to his Lower Merion Township High School prom at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. Brandy wore a sleeveless champagne Moschino dress and watching shawl and her signature long braids. Kobe, almost 18 at the time, wore a black tux and banded-color shirt with no tie.
"He asked me to go to the prom with him, and since he was a nice guy...I asked my mom, and she said yes," Brandy told the New York Daily News at the time.
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