Maya Moore is the 2021 recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Proud of you now and forever, @MooreMaya. 💙🤍💚
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) July 11, 2021
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The former WNBA star was recognized at Saturday night’s ESPY awards for her work in prison and criminal justice reform. Moore was joined by her husband, Jonathan Irons, whom she helped get released from prison after he was wrongfully convicted in 1998.
During her acceptance speech, Moore, a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, addressed the perceived courage it took for her to step away from basketball to pursue social justice reform. Instead, Moore says, it is the courage to love that is challenging.
“My courage has not been as much in me not playing but in the emotional and mental and spiritual outpouring into love and fighting against injustice,” she said.
Moore ended her speech by imploring the audience to embrace sacrifice and empower those who are most vulnerable.
“Power is not meant to be gripped with a clenched fist or to be hoarded,” Moore said, “but power is meant to be handled generously so we can thoughtfully empower one another to thrive in our communities for love’s sake.”
Maya Moore might be mum on her return to basketball, but according to husband Jonathan Irons, the 2014 league MVP still “got it.”
“I see her all the time. We have a basketball hoop in the back of the house,” he told The Associated Press. “She’s still got it. She made a trick shot from her mama’s bedroom to the goal. She still shoots from deep and will shoot your lights out.”
Jonathan Irons, @MooreMaya’s husband, has a quick answer when asked if he wants to see his wife play basketball again: "She’s still got it."
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 9, 2021
But will the former WNBA MVP ever return?
Story, text by @dougfeinberg >> https://t.co/kHL8DLXDxr pic.twitter.com/5I5MmAVxYo
But Moore, who left the WNBA in 2019 to help Irons win his release, still has no definitive return date when it comes to the WNBA.
“I’m not thinking about that at all right now,” she said. “This whole thing has been so unexpected. When Jonathan got home it was like OK, now the rest can start in a way. That’s what we’ve been doing. The story is unfolding still. This is where we’re at right now, living in the present.”
The documentary of their story — “Breakaway” produced by Robin Roberts — will air July 13 on ESPN. Moore will also be accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs next week.
Maya Moore, the former WNBA star, has continued to make waves since stepping away from basketball in 2019.
In her life post-WNBA, the 2014 league MVP has committed herself to social equity and criminal justice reform.
Moore’s pursuits will now be featured in an ESPN Films documentary titled “Breakaway.” The film will follow Moore’s quest to get Jonathan Irons, a man wrongfully convicted of burglary and assault, released from prison.
After helping him get released in 2020, Moore married Irons.
“Breakaway” will debut on ESPN on July 13, the night before the WNBA All-Star game.