Maya Moore's Jersey Retirement: A Night of Celebration for Lynx Legend

The Minnesota Lynx officially retired the jersey number of six-time WNBA All-Star Maya Moore on Saturday night after their 90-80 win over the Indiana Fever in Minneapolis. Moore led the Lynx on four different championship runs during her eight seasons in the league. The ceremony took place after the game, marking a poignant moment for the former star and her fans.

Moore was honored during an emotional ceremony after the game, where she was gifted a special Jordan brand jacket and gold shoes referencing her many accomplishments throughout her career. Several of her former teammates were in attendance for the ceremony, too, including Sylvia Fowles and Rebekkah Brunson.

Moore joins an elite group of Lynx players to have their jersey numbers retired, including Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson, Seimone Augustus, and Sylvia Fowles. Her jersey retirement is a testament to her significant contributions to the team and the league.

The Lynx selected Moore with the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 out of UConn, and she won Rookie of the Year honors during her first campaign while winning a title with the Lynx. They made it to the WNBA Finals five more times in the next six seasons while winning three more championships in one of the best stretches for a franchise in WNBA history.

Moore was the league’s MVP in the 2014 season, too, where she averaged a career-high 23.9 points and 8.1 rebounds. She finished her career averaging 18.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game after she retired following the 2018 season. Moore also won a pair of gold medals with the Team USA women’s team in both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Moore is still the Lynx’s franchise leader in steals (449) and 3-point field goals made (530). She’s also the all-time leading scorer in WNBA Finals history with 441 points.

Moore announced that she was going to sit out the 2019 season to focus on both her family and her non-profit, “Win With Justice.” She dedicated herself to freeing Jonathan Irons from prison, which she eventually did in 2020. Irons was wrongfully convicted when he was 16 years old, and he spent 23 years in prison in Missouri. Moore and Irons then got married, and they had their first child in 2022. She officially retired from the WNBA last year.

Coincidence or not, the Lynx opted to retire Moore’s jersey on the night that Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were in town. Clark, who has helped launch a massive new wave of interest in women’s basketball as a whole in recent years, was surprised by Moore during ESPN’s “College GameDay” when she was playing at Iowa in what was an emotional moment for the former Hawkeyes star.

Clark warmed up in a Moore shirt before the game, too. Moore, who Clark first met at a basketball camp when she was a child, was asked about that initial interaction — which she admitted she didn't remember.

The Lynx led nearly the entire way on Saturday night to pick up the 10-point win, which officially clinched a playoff spot for them. Napheesa Collier led the way with 31 points after shooting 12-of-18 from the field. Clark finished with 23 points and eight assists for the Fever.

The Minnesota Lynx will honor the greatest player in franchise history, and one of the best the WNBA has ever seen, on Saturday night when they retire Maya Moore's No. 23. The ceremony will take place prior to their matchup with the Indiana Fever, which is set to tip at 8 p.m. ET.

“We look forward to welcoming Maya back to Target Center to commemorate her prolific career,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who coached Moore for her entire career, said in a press release. “To stand with Maya as her number 23 jersey is hoisted into the Target Center rafters will be incredibly exciting.”

Moore, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, immediately turned around the fortunes of a franchise that, prior to her arrival, had not won a playoff series in over a decade of existence. In her first season, Moore won Rookie of the Year and helped the Lynx win their first title. She never looked back.

In just eight total seasons, Moore put together one of the most complete WNBA careers of all time:

She was also named to the WNBA's 20th anniversary team in 2016 and 25th anniversary team in 2021. Along with her WNBA success, she also helped Team USA win gold medals during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

In the middle of her prime, Moore made a stunning decision to step away from the game of basketball prior to the 2019 season in order to focus on her family and advocating for criminal justice reform. She never played again, and officially announced her retirement in 2023.

“I am so excited to be able to come back to connect, celebrate and remember so many of the special memories I was able to be a part of with this Lynx family,” Moore said. “I'm still so amazed at what we were able to accomplish as a group and even more amazed at how well we did it together.”

Maya Moore became the fourth Minnesota Lynx player to have their jersey retired on Saturday, joining an elite club of WNBA icons.

Moore joined Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus to have their jersey numbers forever enshrined in Lynx history.

Along with having her jersey hung in the rafters, Moore was gifted a custom jacket and gold Jordan basketball shoes.

Some of Moore's Lynx teammates were in attendance on Saturday and spoke highly of the Minnesota legend.

“You brought the best out of all of us, that’s how special you are,” Brunson said of Moore.

Sylvia Fowles, who played with Moore from 2015 to 2018, joked about how Moore “moved at her own pace.”

Moore had a legendary eight-year career in Minnesota. She helped lead the Lynx to four WNBA championships and earned Finals MVP in 2013. She was the 2014 MVP and a six-time All-Star, winning All-Star Game MVP three times.

She led the league in steals in 2018, points in 2014 and was named to the WNBA All-First Team five times.

By the time she retired in 2018, it was only a matter of time before the Lynx retired her jersey, and now that day has finally come.

The Lynx will honor Maya Moore Irons on Saturday night, thanking her for helping bring four WNBA titles to Minnesota and one specific shot they’ll always remember.

There were 1.7 seconds left in a tie game, in a tied WNBA finals series, in a very loud arena in Indianapolis.

Minnesota Lynx ball.

Out of a timeout, coach Cheryl Reeve inserted Lindsay Whalen — unable to play much of the game, much of the series, because of an Achilles injury — just to make the inbounds pass. She knew the play, knew Maya Moore Irons, knew what to do.

The first option? Sylvia Fowles, down low. Covered. Up top, Indiana guard Marissa Coleman was in the passing lane. So Moore Irons faked one direction, drifted. Whalen faked a pass inside, then lofted the ball to her.

We return to the 2015 finals, Game 3, not solely out of a sense of nostalgia, though that’s a big part of it. This weekend is all about nostalgia. On Saturday night, the Lynx will retire Moore Irons’ jersey. It will be joined in the Target Center rafters with the others: Whalen, Fowles, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson. This on a night Minnesota hosts the Indiana Fever, whose star rookie guard, Caitlin Clark, grew up adoring Moore Irons’ play.

The starting five on two of the Lynx’s four WNBA titles together, again. Whalen said seeing all five jerseys together will lend a finality to her about that time she hadn’t felt before. Fowles reflected on how humbling it will be to see them all together and the almost overwhelming sense of sisterhood.

You can’t distill an amazing career to 1.7 seconds. Moore Irons won two NCAA titles at Connecticut, four WNBA titles, two world championships, two Olympic golds. She was MVP both of the 2013 finals and the 2014 season. She visited the White House so many times Barack Obama joked she should keep a toothbrush there.

Former Washington coach Mike Thibault called Moore Irons impervious to pressure and difficult to plan for because of her unpredictability. Reeve joked that often the Lynx didn’t know what she’d do, either.

But if one play captures the greatness of Moore Irons’ game, it was that one. The willingness to accept the pressure, the calmness to execute, the ability to launch the shot with about two-tenths of a second left, the flair to hold her shooting pose as the ball went in and the arena went quiet.

“That is the most obvious scene, right?” said Moore Irons. “There were other pressure moments: needing a rebound, a stop. But that’s the one. I think about that game. Such a beautiful example of our team. Lindsay coming in hurt because we have this awesome connection. Me improvising up top. Sylvia drawing attention down low. I did what I’ve done a million times. Upfake, dribble, put the shot up. I was in the moment.”

Rushing the shot might be expected. Moore Irons had, a lot, in practice. But not this time. She caught the ball, stepped behind the three-point line. Upfake, putting Coleman on her heels. One dribble right, shot.

But there were so many moments. All of her former teammates talk about the buzz Moore Irons — the No. 1 draft pick in 2011 — brought at their first practice together. The Lynx, filled with talented veterans, knew they’d be good, and then Moore Irons parachuted in. She was confident, yet humble. Connecting with teammates, fitting in while standing out, benefiting from having joined a team already good.

She wasn’t the best player on the team as a rookie. “But there was an immediate feeling that lifted our team into this incredible space,” Reeve said. “I’ll always remember that first day.”

Brunson said all she needed to do was come in and be Maya. “She was the missing piece, really, to what we needed to really go over the top. We had a confident group, and then you add that piece.”

Moore Irons had only one speed. She was relentless. Kayla McBride, a Notre Dame grad who just finished her rookie season, was at the 2015 game, sitting behind the Fever bench. She calls her first game trying to guard Moore Irons her welcome-to-the-WNBA moment. Whalen said Moore Irons’ play was relentless. “When you have Maya on your team, you never feel you’re out of it.”

Augustus said Moore Irons was all about winning. Board games, basketball, whatever. “She had a fire,” Augustus said. “And when she came to the Lynx, everyone had that same fire going.”

Moore Irons lives life the same way. She was part of the team’s response to the 2016 death of Philando Castile. She became involved in her social justice quest before leaving the game after the 2018 season, helped get Jonathan Irons’ wrongful conviction overturned, ultimately marrying Irons and starting a family. How she attacks her post-basketball life mirrors the lessons learned playing for the Lynx.

“That’s the way I live my life, trying to be present in every moment,” Moore Irons said. “I know it takes preparation, sacrifice, to be able to give that.”

The 2011 rookie of the year, Moore Irons was atop her game by 2015, having already won MVP. In a game the Lynx needed to win — they’d have been down 2-1 with another game to play in Indianapolis — she delivered.

Many lament her leaving the game after nine seasons. Moore Irons counters: What was left to do on a court? “I got to do everything I dreamt of doing, and in a Lynx jersey,” she said. “And I was able to do it multiple times. I was able to do things people dream of, with people who are special. Now it’s time for other players to make their path. No regrets.”

Under the basket, Brunson battled Tamika Catchings, Fowles with Erlana Larkins. Augustus was on the wing, covered by Briann January. Once she got the ball, Moore Irons went to work, taking almost all of those 1.7 seconds.

In the stands, McBride remembers the sudden, incredible silence. Moore Irons? Her teammates’ screams.

Fowles: “It was maybe the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

Reeve said it was like a movie, in slow motion. “It felt still, still,” she said. “The shot is traveling, it gets quiet, you’re waiting for it to get there.”

What a wild scenario.

A picture of that shot hangs in the Lynx locker room. Everyone sees it each day. Players like Napheesa Collier, who came from the same Missouri hometown, met Moore Irons when she was in middle school, also went to UConn, and then the Lynx.

Moore Irons was able to walk away from the game. No regrets. But there are times she thinks back. The wins, the road lunches with her teammates.

“Playing for the Lynx, that rhythm of life,” she said. “I really do marvel at what we were able to do. I know how hard it is to do what we made look easy.”

This is the best kind of full-circle moment. When she came through Minneapolis for the first time as a WNBA rookie, Clark talked about growing up watching Moore Irons. About driving up from Iowa with her dad to watch games, about how she hugged Moore Irons once after a game, how gracious she was.

This all makes Moore Irons smile. There are so many memories. All the titles, the victories, the awards. Moore remembers the team partying at Prince’s house after the 2015 title was won on the Target Center floor; ice packs on her knees, up until 3 a.m.

On a team of greats, Reeve said Moore Irons was unique. “More of a generational player than any of the others,” Reeve said, “in that she could do everything at her position.”

But it’s more about her impact.

“It brings a smile to my face knowing those moments weren’t in vain,” Moore Irons said. “There are so many hard things in life, but so many good things, too. That keeps paying itself forward. It’s seeing the game grow.”

Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Star Tribune for more than 20 years.

Napheesa Collier scored 31 points as the red-hot Lynx defeated Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at Target Center on a night when Lynx legend Maya Moore Irons’ jersey was retired.

Napheesa Collier again shined for the Lynx, scoring 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting to go along with 18 rebounds.

What started as the perfect little column idea has morphed into something much, much bigger, as Caitlin Clark returns to Target Center on Saturday with the Indiana Fever.

Napheesa Collier scored 31 points as the red-hot Lynx defeated Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at Target Center on a night when Lynx legend Maya Moore Irons’ jersey was retired.