Four WNBA titles, two Olympic gold medals and one soon to be retired jersey. Maya Moore Irons has done it all and it will be a special moment for her this weekend.
Moore Irons anticipates one particular emotion when her number 23 joins the pantheon of other Lynx greats.
"Great, overwhelming gratitude for the ridiculous amount of great people I got to do this with," Moore Irons says. "And also feeling like I got to achieve everything I could have wanted to."
But trying to pick out her favorite Lynx moment is a little more difficult.
"I am in such a fortunate position to have so many memories to choose from," she told WCCO's Jason DeRusha. "I think, I guess we'll start with the shot."
"The shot" that Moore Irons refers to comes from 2015 during the WNBA Finals. Tied 77-77, the Lynx had to inbound the ball in front of Indiana’s bench in Game 3. In 1.7 seconds (yes, 1.7 seconds), she catches the ball, gives a pump fake, takes one dribble to distance herself from the Indiana defense, then released a picture-perfect, game-winning shot.
"That was a big moment for me," says Moore Irons, which fans can forgive her for understating.
Minnesota would eventually win their third straight title and help cement Moore Iron's place in basketball - and Lynx - immortality.
She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in April. Sports Illustrated named her the "greatest winner in the history of women's basketball," and Saturday night the Lynx will retire her number 23 jersey.
Moore Irons is the fifth player in team history to have her jersey retired. Her jersey will be retired when the Lynx host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Clark, who is from Iowa and grew up a Lynx fan, has said she "idolized" Moore Irons since she was a young girl.
Clark told the Indy Star that when she was 12, her dad drove her from their home in Des Moines to Minneapolis for a Lynx game. This was of course while Moore Irons was a dominant force for the four-time champions. After the game, as fans mingled on the court, Clark ran forward and hugged Moore, her favorite player.
"Ten seconds can go a long way in somebody’s life," Clark said in May. "That’s a good lesson whether you play sports or don’t play sports, how you treat somebody matters."
Moore eventually stepped away from professional basketball in 2019 to, as she put it, concentrate more on social issues.
Moore said at the time, "My focus in 2019 will not be on professional basketball, but will instead be on the people in my family, as well as on investing my time in some ministry dreams that have been stirring in my heart for many years."
She ended up marrying Jonathan Irons, a Missouri man she helped work to free from prison after a 22-year-old wrongful conviction.