Elena Delle Donne and Gatorade teamed up with a basketball prodigy in an ad celebrating 25 years of WNBA greatness
- Gatorade is honoring the WNBA's past and highlighting its bright future with a new ad: "Reflections."
- The commercial stars two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne and basketball prodigy Isabella "Jiggy" Escribano.
- Delle Donne and Escribano told Insider about the ad's goal of inspiring the next generation.
For 25 years, some of the best basketball players on the planet have competed for glory, championships, and legacy-defining moments in the WNBA.
And now, as the league approaches its 25th postseason, the next generation of basketball stars are tuning in and preparing to make a mark of their own.
Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne and Gatorade - which has partnered with the league from its very first year in 1996 - teamed up with basketball prodigy Isabella "Jiggy" Escribano to shoot a commercial that honors the WNBA's past and highlights its bright future.
"For Gatorade to do this and to inspire the next generation is huge," Delle Donne told Insider. "And to do it for the 25th season, especially right before the playoffs, it's just really exciting and adds that much more hype and excitement to our game."
"For me to be the player in it is really cool, because I know the impact that W players had on my career," she added. "Sheryl Swoopes especially - being able to watch her play made me want to be in the WNBA and made me want to be better."
Now, as is shown in the new commercial, players like Escribano are looking to emulate Delle Donne and her peers in the league. The ad, which is narrated by Escribano, the 13-year-old acknowledges that WNBA naysayers criticize the women's game with jabs like "we're not as aggressive" and "we're not as 'fun to watch.'"
"But real hoopers?" " Escribano says. "They love the game no matter who's playing."
"We know there's more than one way to be great," she adds. "In fact, there's quite a few."
The commercial then pans to a silhouette of Escribano studying highlights of Delle Donne projected onto the wall ahead of her. The wunderkind takes it all in as she describes the "sacrifice, dedication, [and] work" that brought the WNBA's lone member of the illustrious 50-40-90 club to the greatest heights of professional basketball.
"I get to do my thing because they do theirs," Escribano says of Delle Donne and the league's current stars. "They break barriers and break ankles too."
"They already paved the way, and now it's my turn," she adds. "Because I'm a reflection of them. I'm a reflection of greatness, and I'm just getting started."
Esribano told Insider that she's long worked alongside her brother to help shift the often negative mainstream perception of the WNBA and women's sports at large. She hopes those who see the ad are encouraged to "watch women's basketball" and recognize "that we should have the same eyes and same respect as the men."
"I want to inspire the next generation of girls and to tell them that they could do anything they want," she told Insider. "That's just been my goal outside basketball, not just in basketball - to inspire a girl. Maybe she can pick up the ball or maybe she'll like, do anything, any sport. Or when she goes to class or to take a test, she's confident in herself."
The WNBA playoffs kick off Thursday night with single-elimation matchups between the Chicago Sky and Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. ET and the Phoenix Mercury and New York Liberty at 10 p.m. ET. Fans can tune into both matchups on ESPN 2.
You can get yourself ready for the postseason by checking out the new Gatorade commercial - featuring Delle Donne and Escribano - below: