The "undefeated queen" Maya Moore won again.
This time outside the basketball court, Maya Moore did her best for this two-year-long "game.".
A year and a half ago, 29-year-old Maya Moore was the best female basketball player on the planet, and she was the "women's version of James."
Since high school, Maya Moore has led the team to win, she conquered the United States, Europe, China, the Olympic Games, every year the honor book will be added a few times, she got all the honors that a female basketball player can get.
Last year, Maya Moore made the decision to take a one-year off at the peak of her career. She wanted to focus on helping a man who had spent 22 years in prison regain his freedom. Her choice shocked the American basketball community.
In 1997, 16-year-old Missouri boy Jonathan Irons was charged with shooting and injuring the homeowner in a burglary, and a year later he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In 2007, Irons completed his first 10 years of his sentence. That year, Maya Moore had just graduated from high school. In high school, Maya Moore was already a well-known women's basketball star in the American basketball world. At the age of 16, she completed her first dunk, and then led the team to 125 wins and 3 losses in her high school years.
That was the year that Maya Moore and Irons met for the first time. Maya-Moore grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, close to Irons. Learning about Irons' experience planted a seed in Maya Moore's heart.
After entering the university, Maya Moore was unstoppable. She led the University of Connecticut to two NCAA titles in four years. During his sophomore year, he won the championship with 39 wins and 0 losses, and also set a terrifying NCAA 90-game winning streak along the way. The name "Undefeated Queen" began to ring out.
In 2011, Maya Moore joined the WNBA as a champion. A month later, Nike's Jordan Brand signed Moore under her command, making her the first women's basketball spokesperson in Jordan Brand history. Kerr Jordan himself "approved" the signing, which shows the status and influence of Maya-Moore.
After entering the WNBA, Maya Moore led the Bobcats to the WNBA championship four times and the All-Star Game MVP three times, and she is the player with the most All-Star MVP in WNBA history.
Internationally, Maya Moore helped the U.S. women's basketball team win gold medals twice at the London Olympics and rio Olympics, and twice won the World Championships with the United States in 2010 and 14.
Due to the low salary level of the WNBA and the difference between the NBA and the NBA, like many WNBA star players, Maya Moore chose to come to China to pan for gold in the offseason. In the fall of 2012, she joined the Shanxi women's basketball team with a salary of $600,000, and then led the team to the WCBA three consecutive championships.
Invincible on the basketball court, Maya Moore actively exerts her influence outside the basketball court.
At the end of 2017, Maya-Moore and two other advocates of judicial reform published an op-ed in THEA TODAY, a well-known American media outlet, calling for people to pay attention to judicial reform. In addition, she has also called for people to oppose gun violence in several public places. She is also considered by several American media outlets, including USA TODAY, to be one of the most vocal athletes in the U.S. professional sports league.
The seed that was planted when I met Irons took root 10 years later. In Maya-Moore's view, Irons was wrongly convicted as a result of the prosecutor's mishandling. She decided to help Irons redress, and for the past two years, Irons' defense fees have been paid by Maya Moore.
Last year, Maya Moore decided to take a year off to focus on pushing for judicial reform and doing her best to help Irons regain his freedom. She launched a social movement called "Win Justice" and launched a "Fair Trial" petition for Irons on Change, a nonprofit website based on the World Socialization Petition. Irons was sent to prison, although "no DNA evidence, fingerprints, physical evidence or footprint evidence has any connection to Irons' crimes," the petition said. ”
An unidentified fingerprint found in the victim's home was not found in irons' first trial at Irons' trial last October, and the Cole County Circuit Judge in the case subsequently ordered state police to examine it against the database.
Maya-Moore said in an interview with local media in Missouri late January last year: "He (Irons) is very close to freedom. Two months ago, we presented a great deal of facts about his case. He was a beacon and very encouraging to me, my family and his perseverance, and he did not give up hope for the truth of the case. ”
Maya Moore made the decision to truce for the second consecutive year in January, including this year's WNBA and the Tokyo Olympics. The Minnesota Bobcats general manager has contacted Maya Moore several times over the past year to get her back on the team, but without success.
Moore said another reason for his second consecutive year of suspension was that she had been a top player since she was a teenager, training and playing for years, and she was desperate for a breathing opportunity. And she also hopes to have an understanding of the case that has persisted for two years.
This spring, Irons' case was retried, and he was eventually acquitted. The "undefeated queen" won again, and Maya-Moore finally won the protracted battle.
On Wednesday, Maya Moore and Irons participated in ABC's Good Morning America. On the show, Maya Moore revealed that she had married Jonathan Irons.
While in prison, Irons proposed to Maya Moore. When Irons wanted to get himself out of prison, Moore was giving himself a reply. After he regained his freedom, Maya-Moore accepted the marriage proposal.
Maya Moore also recently posted videos and photos of the wedding on social media, and Irons cried with joy at the wedding.
Asked by the host if she had any plans to return to the pitch, Maya Moore said: "I just want to get out of this long and long battle and take a breather and rest." There are still many unknowns waiting for us at this moment. ”
Basketball was Maya Moore's career, but basketball wasn't the whole of her life. Off the pitch, she's also an ordinary U.S. citizen. A game has only 40 minutes, and a season is only 2 or 3 months. Maya Moore spent two years fighting for power, and this time she won with particular hardship.
The seed that was planted 13 years ago also bears fruit. The legendary Maya Moore on the basketball court wrote a fairytale love story into reality.