Maya Moore didn’t want the ‘night to be over’ when Lynx turned in his number 23

MINNEAPOLIS — Lynx legend Maya Moore wept buckets Saturday night as she stood at center court and watched her number 23 jersey be carried into the rafters of the Target Center.

Moments after the Minnesota team she once led secured a playoff spot with a 90-80 win over the Indiana Fever and a year after officially retiring from the WNBA, Moore was surrounded by former teammates, friends and family members as her number was unveiled alongside the other stars of the 2017 WNBA championship team: Rebekkah Brunson, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus.

Most of the record-breaking Lynx home game crowd — 19,023 — stayed to honor Moore, who helped the franchise win four WNBA titles.

“My life is an example of what it looks like when we love a little girl right,” she said. “There’s no way we can look at that (ceremony) without love. So many people have a hand in my life to show me what life is all about. That’s what I’ve tried to bring every day: life and joy. Because I’ve been a recipient of life and joy.”

During the ceremony, Moore was presented with a custom chest piece by Jordan Brand — she was the first woman to be signed by the company — which included a stylish lettering jacket and several pairs of gold shoes. A video montage was also played during the ceremony for Moore — who spent eight seasons in Minneapolis — and featured praise from some of her top competitors. In the video, Mercury star Diana Taurasi said that Moore was “unstoppable” at times when they were competing.3

Moore, the 2014 WNBA MVP, also drew praise from those who built the franchise into a powerhouse under head coach Cheryl Reeve.

“You have all helped us take our sport to the next level. We have reached new heights that we probably never expected to reach, winning four championships and doing so many great things together,” Augustus said.

Whalen added: “The nicest thing I can say about Maya is that on her team you never felt left out, in any situation, in any game.”

Moore officially retired last year, announcing that she and her husband, Jonathan Irons, would continue their work with their organization, Win With Justice, which aims to educate the public about the challenges within the American justice system. However, Moore has not played a game since 2018, effectively ending her WNBA career at the age of 29.

Before Saturday’s game, Moore said she wasn’t considering a basketball comeback, a move she abandoned in part to help free Irons, whose burglary and assault convictions were overturned by a judge. Moore and Irons were married just days after his release from prison on July 1, 2020. The couple welcomed their first child, Jonathan Irons Jr., in 2022. Between motherhood and her work with criminal justice reform, Moore said she’s content with her life right now.

She also said she waited to officially announce her retirement because she wanted to be sure.

“The journey that I had was not expected, but it was exactly the journey that I needed to take,” she said. “And so the way that my life was going and the amount of effort and presence that was required of where I was going, as each year went on, it seemed like I couldn’t switch back, but I just wanted to stay in the moment and also just keep things open until I was really sure.”

Moore has one of the most decorated resumes in basketball history, men’s or women’s. She’s a former two-time NCAA champion and two-time Wooden Award winner. She also won two Olympic gold medals with the women’s national team. But the moment, she said, that she’ll always remember from her time with the Lynx came in 2015 during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals against, ironically, the Indiana Fever. Moore hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win the game for the visiting team, creating one of the enduring images of her career.

“All you see in that picture is the (Indiana) fans just speechless as the shot goes up and then, you know, pump-fake, one dribble right, and it goes up,” she recalled. “All I remember is it was so eerily quiet after the shot went in and then (Brunson) hugged me and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m alive again.'”

Caitlin Clark, who scored 23 points in the loss, has repeatedly called Moore her favorite player of all time. She was a Lynx fan as a child and said one of her favorite childhood memories was getting to hug Moore before a game.

But Clark wasn’t the only player on the court Saturday who had idolized Moore as a kid. Napheesa Collier, who helped the Lynx secure a playoff spot with a 31-point effort, and Moore grew up in the same hometown, Jefferson City, Missouri, and both played at UConn.

Moore said she’s been impressed with Collier’s growth during a season that has put the star firmly in the WNBA MVP conversation, along with other standouts trailing Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson. During the ceremony, Reeve said Moore played a role in Collier’s rise.

“The impact of Maya Moore is that Napheesa Collier could dream of one day being like Maya Moore,” Reeve said.

The magic Moore created on the court during her career now has a permanent place at Target Center with her number retired. On Saturday, Moore tried to take it all in as she wept and the fans who never wanted her to go cheered her on.

“I don’t really want this night to end,” she said. “Some of my favorite people in the world are here with me.”