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Maya Moore was at the height of her career in the 2018 WNBA season. By the age of 29, Moore had won four WNBA championships and one league Most Valuable Player award, and she averaged 18.4 points per game throughout her eight years in the league. 

But, in February 2019, Moore decided to step away from basketball to focus her efforts on social justice, her “new purpose” she said.

“Lebron James retiring at the peak of his career, that is equivalent to what Maya Moore has done,” Syracuse University senior Sean Dorcellus said. “She was fresh off of winning championships and an MVP award, and she decided her purpose was to serve a greater good.”

In a virtual event as part of SU’s 36th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, Dorcellus, the student co-chair of the organizing committee, moderated a conversation with Moore on Wednesday night. Moore spent the evening answering questions from members of SU’s women’s and men’s basketball teams, as well as speaking about her faith and civil rights work. 

The organizing committee for the event was trying to find someone that the Syracuse community was familiar with but who was also an individual that represents King’s legacy of social justice. Dorcellus said that college students could learn a lot from Moore, who spoke about how she spent the last few years of her life working toward her purpose of creating social change. 

“We are all in this process of looking for our own purpose,” Dorcellus said. “You take on a major and course of study in hopes of figuring out what you want to do for a living. If your purpose is to help and serve others, she is the epitome of that.”

Moore opened the conversation by talking about her relationship with Jonathan Irons, a man she had met in 2007, who was falsely convicted for burglary charges. When Moore left the WNBA to focus on social justice, she worked with her family to get Irons released from prison. In July 2020, Irons was released from prison, almost 25 years after he was first incarcerated.

“We live in a 45-minute-TV-show-episode world where we have a conclusion at the end,” Moore said over Zoom. “But, that’s really not how life works, and we all know that. My family had been partnering with Jonathan for 15 years before we saw that amazing scene in July 2020.”

Maya Moore spoke with SU senior Sean Dorcellus in a virtual event hosted as part of the university’s celebrations of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Screenshot

Moore also reflected on some of her accolades, such as her two Olympic gold medals and championships at the college level with the University of Connecticut and professionally with the Minnesota Lynx. However, Moore said she realized that the majority of her life in sports wasn’t a “championship experience.” 

“It’s important for me to remember that, even though I won a lot, that’s not the most important thing about me,” Moore said. “The most important thing about me is who I’m becoming.”

Moore spoke about equality and the comparisons that are made between the salaries of men’s and women’s basketball players. It’s important for the public to not “only measure women’s value by a men’s standard,” she said

“There are things that Lebron can do with his body that I’ll never be able to do, and that’s okay,” Moore said. “But, there are things that I can do with my body that Lebron can’t do. I don’t think that value is going to be found only in measuring a salary.” 

At the conclusion of the conversation, Moore commented on how negativity regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and racism in the United States could be detrimental to people’s mental health. She emphasized the importance for people to celebrate the small victories with social change, like her family’s success in getting Irons released from prison.

“No matter who you are, where you’re from or what you look like, we all can learn from Dr. King first and foremost, but also specifically from Maya Moore,” Dorcellus said. “I think that she is the right person, with the right message, at the right time.”

Published on January 27, 2021 at 11:19 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu