More room will have to be made in the Target Center rafters. Another Minnesota Lynx jersey is about to be lifted: Maya Moore’s.
Moore’s No. 23 will be retired on Aug. 4, when the Lynx host the Indiana Fever.
It should be a festive occasion, for a number of reasons. Moore, joining Lindsay Whalen (No. 3), Rebekkah Brunson (32), Seimone Augustus (33) and Sylvia Fowles (34), will complete the retirement of the entire starting five from the last two of four WNBA title teams.
As an aside, with presumptive No. 1 WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark likely heading to Indiana, which has the No. 1 pick, it will be the perfect pairing; Clark has already said Moore — the former UConn star who came to the Lynx with the first overall pick in the 2011 draft — is her favorite player.
“We look forward to welcoming Maya back to the Target Center to commemorate her prolific career,” Minnesota president of basketball operations and coach Cheryl Reeve said in a release. “To stand with Maya as her number 23 jersey is hoisted into the Target Center rafters will be incredibly exciting.”
Moore played eight seasons, all with the Lynx, before stepping away from the game to concentrate on freeing her future husband, Jonathan Irons, from an unjust prison sentence. They have a one-year-old, Jonathan Jr.
Moore was the WNBA’s rookie of the year in 2011 after being the first overall draft choice out of UConn. She was the WNBA finals MVP in 2013 and the league MVP in 2014. She was named to either the all-WNBA first team or second team seven times. She was a WNBA all-star six times, winning the game’s MVP award three times. She was also a part of gold-medal Team USA squads that won at two Olympics and two world championships.
Then there was the pivotal Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA finals, which Moore won with a buzzer-beating three from the top of the arc.
“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 in the release. “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!’
Moore appeared in 271 games. She scored 4,984 points, had 1,589 rebounds, 896 assists, 449 steals, 176 blocks and 31 double-doubles. She holds franchise highs in both steals and three-pointers made (530).
In 56 post-season games Moore averaged 19.2 points, and shot 46.6%, with 6.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
