Vanessa Bryant said she gave her daughter Natalia Bryant the ‘OK’ to attend her senior prom after learning of a conflicting basketball hall of fame ceremony honoring her dad, Kobe Bryant . On Sunday, she shared an emotional post to Instagram detailing the moments leading up to her very own prom night 21 years ago with the retired NBA star, People reported . "Natalia almost missed her senior prom last night," Vanessa wrote with a photo of her and her daughter. "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. 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."