On Monday (January 16), Maya Moore, one of the greatest basketball players of all time with her four WNBA championships and two Olympic gold medals, announced her retirement from the sport at the age of 33.
Maya Moore announced her decision to retire from professional basketball on ABC’s Good Morning America. Prior to this, Moore had been noncommittal about her future in the sport. In her statement, Moore said. “Well, I think it’s time to put a close to the pro basketball life,” she said. “I walked away four seasons ago but wanted to officially retire. This is such a sweet time for us and our family. The work we’ve done, I want to continue in our next chapter. Be home for my community and family.”
After her TV appearance, Moore shared with reporters that she had been too focused on her personal priorities and that returning to basketball was not in her plans.
In case you didn’t know, Maya Moore took a hiatus from the WNBA in 2019 to put her focus on a more important mission- to help her soon-to-be husband Jonathan Irons, achieve his freedom by getting his 50-year sentence overturned. Her efforts paid off in 2020, as Irons was released and the couple got married soon after.
How Maya Moore Met And Helped Her Husband Jonathan Irons?
The WNBA legend, Maya Moore, is now the wife of Jonathan Irons, a man she devoted herself to helping. She was determined to secure his release from the Jefferson City correctional facility where he was serving a 50-year sentence that began when he was just 16 years old.
In 1998, Irons, who was only 16 at the time, was accused of participating in a burglary and shooting of a man in the suburbs of St. Louis. Stanley Stotler, the homeowner, came home to find his door open and someone inside, and he identified Irons as the perpetrator, but there were inconsistencies with the identification process in court. Irons maintained his innocence and insisted that the police had arrested the wrong person.
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Moore was first introduced to Jonathan Irons’s case when she was 18 years old, visiting family in Missouri who was involved in prison ministry. They brought Irons’s case to her attention, and she reached out to him. The two developed a strong friendship that lasted for over a decade. In 2019, she took a break from her basketball career.
After years of advocacy, Moore and Irons’s wishes were finally granted in 2020. On July 2nd, Judge Daniel Green overturned Irons’s conviction, citing multiple issues with the prosecution’s case. The couple got married shortly after Irons was freed from prison.
Moore And Irons Share A Son Together
In February 2022, Maya Moore shared the news on her Instagram that she and her husband Jonathon Irons welcomed a son, Jonathan Irons Jr. She said that “Marrying Jonathan was one of the happiest days of my life!”, and the birth of their son was one of her proudest moments.
What Is Maya Moore’s Net Worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Maya Moore, a renowned former American professional basketball player, boasts a net worth of $300,000.
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Moore hails from Jefferson City, Missouri, where she started playing basketball at the young age of three. Throughout her high school years, she excelled in the sport, earning numerous accolades, including the highly coveted Naismith Prep Player of the Year award during her junior year.
Maya Moore has now officially announced her retirement from her basketball career. She stated that she is grateful for the opportunities the WNBA, the Minnesota Lynx, and the sport of basketball have given her. She also emphasized her role in building the foundation for women’s basketball.