In partnership with @slabdynastycards 👇 Learn more 📚 In 1996, a 17-year-old from Philadelphia was one of the most highly regarded high s

In partnership with @slabdynastycards 👇 Learn more 📚 In 1996, a 17-year-old from Philadelphia was one of the most highly regarded high school basketball players in the country. He had decided to skip college and enter the NBA directly from high school, becoming the first guard to do so since 1975. The girl he invited to prom was also 17, but she was already a major star. She had released her debut album, which went quadruple platinum, starred in her own television sitcom, and had already won a Grammy Award for her collaboration with Boyz II Men. The two met at a Nike basketball event, and he invited her to his high school prom. She flew from California to Philadelphia to attend. The unusual pairing attracted so much attention that television crews, news reporters and paparazzi showed up, while the school hired additional security. They arrived at the prom in a white stretch limousine. Just weeks later, Kobe signed a five-year, $48 million endorsement deal with Adidas before being selected 13th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft and traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He would go on to win five NBA championships and become one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Brandy would become a Grammy Award-winning artist with a career spanning music, television and film.