Maya Moore has officially announced her retirement from basketball.
The great player for the Minnesota Lynx moved away from the WNBA in 2019 to assist her now-husband Jonathan Irons in having his 50-year prison term overturned and winning his release from prison in 2020. Soon after his release, Irons wed Moore, and in July, the couple welcomed their first child, Jonathan Jr.
She made the retirement announcement on the ABC morning show Good Morning America. Prior to last Monday, Moore had been on the fence about picking up his basketball again.
Now, Moore says, he has decided to call it quits on his professional basketball career. I quit four seasons ago, but I never wanted to call it quits. This is a wonderful time for our family. What we’ve accomplished together. In the next section, I’d like to carry on with that. Serve as the new base of operations for my social and familial ties…
Maya Moore, a former WNBA star, and husband Jonathan Irons, a professional basketball player, announced on Tuesday that they had a son, Jonathan Jr., in February.
Moore and Irons tied the knot in 2020, not long after Irons’s release from a 23-year prison sentence. After Moore and her family helped get Irons’ 1998 conviction reversed in March 2020, his tale went global.
She expressed her utter joy at the prospect of becoming a mother. Her delight in sharing this experience with her partner, Irons, with the GMA crew.
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About Maya Moore
Maya Moore, April, was born on June 11th, 1989, and she played professional basketball in the USA. While recognising Moore as their first-ever Performer of the Year, Sports Illustrated hailed her as the most successful player in women’s basketball.
In high school, Moore was recognised as a National Gatorade Player of the Year. A Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year, and a McDonald’s All-American. She was a forward for the 2009 and 2010 national champion UConn women’s basketball team. After leading Connecticut to a perfect season and a national title in 2009, she was named the John Wooden Award winner.
Moore then led Connecticut to a repeat national championship and a 78-game winning streak the following year. In 2010–11, she guided the Huskies to an NCAA record-breaking 90-game winning run across all divisions. Moore made history that year by signing with Air Jordan as their first female basketball player.
She was the first player selected in the 2011 WNBA draught, and she immediately became a key member of the Minnesota Lynx, a team that included future Hall of Famers Seimone Augustus, Rebekkah Brunson, and Lindsay Whalen.
Moore has won four WNBA titles, WNBA MVP (2014), WNBA Finals MVP (2013), WNBA All-Star Game MVP (2015), WNBA Scoring Title (2014), WNBA Rookie of the Year (2014), WNBA MVP (2015, 2017, and 2018), two Olympic gold medals (in 2012 and 2016), and three WNBA All-Star Game MVP awards (2015, 2017, and 2018). (2011). While playing for Ros Casares Valencia in 2012, she won both the Spanish league and the EuroLeague. Moore also went on a four-year streak of winning the Chinese league championship (from 2013–2015). With UMMC Ekaterinburg in 2018, Moore earned his second Euroleague championship.
Who is Maya Moore Married To?
Moore put her basketball career on hold in 2020 to help get 42-year-old Irons out of prison.
“I was 18 when I first met Jonathan. I was preparing to start college when my godparents and great-uncle told me about him and his case “Previously, she had shared with GMA,
When 16-year-old Irons was arrested for a shooting that did not result in death, he was considered a juvenile offender. There was never any hard proof connecting Irons to the crime, but he remained in prison for 20 years anyhow.
Irons was found guilty of burglary and assault by an all-white jury in 1998. A number of procedural flaws, according to the judge who ultimately overturned his conviction. Because of his convictions for burglary and assault, Irons will spend the next half of his life in the Jefferson City Correctional Center in Missouri.
Their wedding was announced two months following Irons’ release.
Moore said on the ABC morning programme, “Over the course of our 13 years together, we’ve grown close, fought a monumental battle to get him home, and seen the Lord work in our lives in profound ways. Here we are, starting a brand new chapter in our lives together.”
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Unjustified Imprisonment of Maya Moore’s Husband?
In 1998, while Irons was 16 years old, he was suspected of being engaged in a burglary and shooting of a man in the St. Louis suburbs. Homeowner Stanley Stotler came back to discover his door open and a stranger inside.
Although Stotler testified that Irons was the first person there, the court chose to ignore the problems with the identification. Irons claimed he was not present, and that the police had the wrong person in custody.
The case’s evidence relied heavily on Stotler’s statements. No physical evidence or reliable witnesses could place Irons in the house. A police affidavit from an officer who claimed Irons confessed to the crime during interrogation was the only additional evidence. However, neither the interrogation nor any other officer there were recorded. Irons denied there was ever a confession.
A crucial fingerprint study that excluded Irons from contention by showing that the house contained fingerprints. And that did not belong to Stotler was not presented as evidence or given to the defence for review. Irons was tried as an adult and found guilty; he was given a 50-year sentence in jail despite the prosecution’s weak case.
Marriage of Maya Moore
In September 2020, when the couple announced their wedding on “GMA,” Irons said that he proposed to Moore the night he was released from prison.
Irons recounted, “When I got out, we were in the hotel room, with some pals in the room, it was winding down and we were incredibly weary, but we were still fueled up on excitement.” “The two of us were alone in the room when I got down on one knee and asked, “Will you marry me?” In response, she answered affirmatively.”
In a documentary called “Breakaway” that aired on ESPN’s “30 for 30” series last year, the couple’s romance and battle for justice are explored.
