Back in the dating game. Vanessa Hudgens is enjoying getting flirty with Los Angeles Lakers player Kyle Kuzma following her split from her longtime boyfriend Austin Butler.
“Kyle is known to be a player and is really smooth with girls,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. “It’s been fun and distracting for Vanessa to talk to, flirt with and get attention from a new guy.”
The Princess Switch star, 31, and Kuzma, 24, sparked dating rumors when they followed each other on Instagram earlier this month and began liking and commenting on each other’s pictures. Hudgens further fueled the speculation on January 13 when she attended a basketball game in L.A. to watch Kuzma play with the Lakers against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Rent: Live star posted a video from the game on Instagram calling LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Kuzma her “heroes.”
Hudgens got flirty via social media on Saturday, January 18, when Kuzma posted a video of himself playing basketball on the court. “Yeaaaa we like thattttt😎,” the Michigan native captioned the post to which Hudgens commented, “Ya we doooo🙌🏼.”
The High School Musical star and Kuzma later stepped out together on Tuesday, January 21, for a meal at the Italian restaurant Lilia in Brooklyn. One day later, Hudgens was courtside yet again for a Lakers game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The actress, who attended the game with actor Eamon O’Rourke, posted a photo from the event on Wednesday, January 22.
“I mean we did our best to take a good pic. Lol @eamonorourke @lakers,” she wrote via Instagram.
Us broke the news on January 14 that Hudgens and Butler, 28, had called it quits after almost nine years of dating. “Vanessa and Austin are officially broken up, and Vanessa has been telling those close to her about their breakup,” a source told Us at the time.
Kuzma, for his part, was linked to Kendall Jenner in July 2019 following the 24-year-old model’s split from fellow NBA player Ben Simmons.
Hudgens, who has been keeping busy since her breakup, recently wrapped filming for Netflix’s Princess Switch: Switched Again in Switzerland. The Knight Before Christmas star also attended the premiere of Bad Boys for Life on January 14 in Los Angeles.
However, she opened up about the downside of traveling for work during an appearance on Live With Kelly and Ryan on January 17. “The things I miss the most are the people I love,” she said at the time.
