Moving on? Vanessa Hudgens was spotted on a date with Lakers player Kyle Kuzma, a week after Us Weekly broke the news that she and Austin Butler had split after nearly nine years of dating.
The High School Musical alum was seen eating at Lilia in Brooklyn on Tuesday, January 21, with the basketball star, 24, TMZ reported. In photographs posted by the outlet, the duo enjoyed a glass of wine and laughed as they dined at the Italian restaurant.
Kuzma was in town with the Los Angeles team, who are scheduled to play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, January 22.
Hudgens has been posting photos of herself in NYC over the past few days as she promotes Bad Boys for Life, including making appearances on Good Morning America and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The Grease Live! star has been a fan of the Lakers and basketball for years and recently attended a game in L.A. with PrettyLittleThing on January 13 to watch Kuzma and the Lakers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
At the time, the actress shared a video via Instagram from the sidelines and tagged LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Kuzma in it, calling them “my heroes.”
The athlete and the former Disney Channel star sparked dating speculation when they began following each other on Instagram earlier this month. They have been liking each other’s photos as well and commenting on pictures.
After the Michigan native shared a picture of himself on the court on Saturday, January 18, writing, “Yeaaaa we like thattttt😎,” Hudgens commented, “Ya we doooo🙌🏼.”
The Princess Switch: Switched Again actress has been sharing a lot on social media following the news of her split from Butler, 28. She’s posted selfies in the California sunshine and videos goofing off on set, but when appearing on Live With Kelly and Ryan on Friday, January 17, she admitted that while working overseas (she recently shot The Princess Switch sequel in Scotland), “The things I miss the most are the people I love.”
Hudgens dated the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star for more than eight years before calling it quits toward the end of 2019. The actress was “telling those close to her about the breakup,” an insider told Us in January.
Kuzma was previously linked to Kendall Jenner after a viral meme in July 2019 insinuated that the model, 24, dated several NBA players, the Lakers star included.
“This is a playoff team lmao,” a social media user wrote alongside an image titled “Starting 5 of NBA Players Kendall Jenner Dated” at the time. The five athletes listed were D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin and Kuzma.
The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star quickly fired back on Twitter writing, “2 out of 5 accurate, thanks.”
Jenner didn’t say which two she was referring to at the time, but she was previously linked to Griffin, 30, and Simmons, 23.
