SAN ANTONIO -- Drawn in by the glitz and the glam of the Lakers as a teenager, native San Antonian Brandy Gunderson lives and dies by the purple and gold.

• Been a fan since Kobe Bryant was drafted in 1996
• Got a follow-back and direct message on Twitter from him

She was raised by a family of diehard Spurs fans, but Gunderson’s fandom never wavered.

From the moment Kobe Bryant was drafted in 1996 at age 17, he’s been her favorite player.

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And as an only child, when Bryant was killed, it felt like losing a family member.

“I feel like my brother had - I lost my brother…um… I felt like it was… it was just surreal,” Gunderson said, struggling to put the feeling into words.

She found out about Bryant’s tragic death in the helicopter crash that claimed nine lives last month when a coworker called to see if she was okay. Gunderson said she didn’t know this coworker very well, so she was confused about the check-in call--then she got the news.

“I just immediately broke down. I was here with a friend and, um, she had to hold me up from falling down,” Gunderson said.

Soon after, her phone started exploding with messages.

“I just started getting texts and texts and DMs and then I was like ‘I can’t believe this is real,’” Gunderson said.

Gunderson immediately got on Twitter and started live streaming on her popular Lakers fan account. She was crying and talking about her disbelief, until things got even worse.

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Her son told her live on the broadcast that Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was also killed.

Gunderson’s sobs and shock magnified.

She did get to see Bryant play in San Antonio, but she’s never actually been to Los Angeles.

One of her claims to fame is when Bryant was on a follow-back spree on Twitter and not only followed her, but also sent her a DM.

“We were all saying ‘Follow me! Follow me!’ I literally tweeted for three days straight; my hands were swollen. I had to… like… gloves, with the little, um, the little grips on them and I was still going, hands swollen,” Gunderson said.

Just a couple years older than Bryant, Gunderson feels like she grew up with him and his talent and motivation inspired her throughout his entire career.  

“He never saw, like, roadblocks. He would just jump over the roadblock and say, ‘I’m going to do what I have to do, no matter what’s going on in life,’” Gunderson said. “So, that has helped me through the loss of my mother. That has helped me in my struggles in life, so I relate to the Mamba Mentality, a hundred-million-percent.”

While aware of the sexual assault allegation against Bryant, Gunderson made it clear that as a woman, she supports other women. But in this case, she doesn’t think we'll ever know the truth.

Instead, she focuses on how he’s grown as a person and all of the positive contributions he’s made on and off of the court.

“What’s keeping me going, and being able to do this interview, is my Mamba Mentality. He has gotten me back in the gym--I started yesterday, I’m going,” Gunderson said. “I got myself another job. I’m going because that’s what Kobe would want.”

Gunderson says now more than ever, she will use Byant’s legacy to motivate her when she’s feeling down.

“Kobe’s looking down on us and saying ‘You have so much potential, get out there and do it,” Gunderson said. “Don’t just say it, do it,’”