The most decorated women's basketball player of her generation — four WNBA championships, two Olympic golds and two NCAA titles. She walked away from the sport at 29 to campaign for criminal justice reform, securing the release of a wrongly imprisoned man she later married.
Maya Moore was born in Jefferson City, Missouri in 1989. Minnesota Lynx selected her first overall in the 2011 WNBA Draft from UConn, where she won two NCAA championships. She won four WNBA championships with Minnesota (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016) and the WNBA MVP award in 2014. She was named WNBA Finals MVP in 2013 and was a six-time All-Star. She stepped away from basketball at 29 to campaign for criminal justice reform, devoting her efforts to the case of Jonathan Irons — a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned. Irons was released in 2020 after a court overturned his conviction. Moore and Irons married in 2020. Her decision to leave sport at the peak of her career to pursue justice for another person made her one of the most celebrated figures in American civil rights advocacy through sport.
WNBA superstar and social justice activist
How They Played
Versatile forward with elite scoring, rebounding and leadership
Lasting Impact
One of greatest WNBA players who sacrificed prime years for criminal justice reform
WNBA Champion 2011,2013,2015,2017
Career Honours
- WNBA Champion 2011,2013,2015,2017
- Olympic Gold 2012, 2016
- WNBA MVP 2014
- WNBA Finals MVP 2013