Isabella Escribano, better known as Jiggy Izzyis a 15-year-old basketball player who plays guard at Canyon High School in Santa Clarita, and who has stood out since she was a child for her great skill shown in social media videos.
Those same videos were projected to the Mamba Sports Academy, program organized by the legendary Kobe Bryant and that led her to meet other NBA stars such as Chris Paul and Kyle Kuzma.
Furthermore, evidently, within the program, Isabella was trained by the legendary “Black Mamba” and shared the duel with her daughter. Gianna Bryant both died in a plane crash in 2020.
Isabella only has memories of this and a deep gratitude to the former Lakers player and Gianna, because thanks to them she now thinks about the future. WNBAwhich is why he shared with ESPN some of the impressions that those moments left him.
“Definitely It was memorable, every second and every tip was amazing.like not taking anything for granted. I loved playing with your daughter, in addition to being coached by one of the greatest basketball players, absorb all that knowledge and greatness of his,” commented Jiggy Izzy.
The advice Kobe Bryant gave him
Something that Isabella remembers as pure gold is the advice that Kobe gave her when she was a little girl more than 4 years ago.
“The first has to do with the shots, I asked Kobe: ‘How many shots should I take in a day?’. I wanted to know how many one of the largest ones took, he told me: ‘Shoot until your arms drop.’ For me, as a 10 or 11 year old girl, it was like what does that mean? Later I understood that it meant that work never stops,” she confessed.
“The second is ‘brick by brick‘, which means taking it day by day. You’re not going to build a house in a day. “He is going to take one step after the other, that is what it means to become one of the best,” he said.
The player also remembered the moment when she was given the great news that she would be trained by her idol:
“After a lot of pushing, coach Phil Handy called me and literally said ‘Kobe Bryant wants you to come to practice.’ I could not believe it! “My brother had to pick up the phone and finish the talk,” Isabella told the sports media.
And, if that were not enough, Isabella said that she found out that “Black Mamba” said that Isabella was a “really good and extraordinary” girl at basketball.
Isabella Escribano already represented the Mexican team
After the death of the Bryants and mourning the painful loss, Isabella tried her luck at other schools in California and traveled to Mexico to look for an opportunity to represent the Aztec team, which she achieved in 2023, by entering the U-16 team that pparticipated in the FIBA Americas U-16 in Mérida, Yucatán, dwhere she accounted for 50 minutes of play and attracted attention for being the youngest player in the competition.
“The reason is that I want to represent my country, I want to show that I am proud to be Mexican. Coming here to play is showing people that I love being here,” the player said at the time.
Isabella is currently part of the Canyon High School team in Santa Clarita and dreams of being the first overall pick in the WNBA Draft.
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