In the annals of basketball history, when it comes to a discussion of the sport’s greatest winners, Maya Moore’s name must be mentioned among the upper echelon.

During her collegiate career, she won two NCAA titles with UConn. As the first overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, Moore went on to win four WNBA championships with the Minnesota Lynx, two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, and four WNBA MVP awards. She’s also a two-time EuroLeague champion.

But at the peak of her powers, at the height of her career, Moore announced that she would not be suiting up for the 2019 season.

“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,” Moore wrote in The Player’s Tribune.. “I’m thankful to my Lynx family and others close to me who have been walking with me during this shift, and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Rarely does a generational talent of Moore’s caliber walk away in their prime—before injuries set in—for a cause greater than themselves.

In an interview with NBC News, Moore shared why she stepped away from the court.

“There are seasons of life when you run harder after certain things than others,” Moore explained. “And so, I felt like the season was coming for me where I needed to run harder after criminal justice reform.”

Back in 2007, Moore became interested in criminal justice reform after visiting her godparents in her hometown of Jefferson City, Missouri. During that visit, they took her to the Jefferson City Correctional Center to meet inmate Jonathan Irons, whom the family had connected with through a prison ministry.

In 1997, at the age of 16, Irons was arrested for burglary and assault in Missouri. Despite a lack of physical evidence, he was convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to 50 years in prison. The conviction was based on a flawed eyewitness identification and a disputed oral confession.

Moore felt compelled to focus on Irons’ case, which she saw as more important than adding another trophy to her already vast collection.

“Over ten thousand people may be wrongfully convicted of serious crimes. Every year. And I know one of them,” Moore said. “And so this one person now becomes an example of a bigger problem for me.”

After spending over 20 years in prison, Irons was released when a judge overturned his conviction, citing that a fingerprint report—which would have been favorable to the defense—was never shared with his legal team during the original trial.

“I feel like I can live life now,” Irons said after his sentence was vacated. “I’m free, I’m blessed, I just want to live my life worthy of God’s help and influence. I thank everybody who supported me—Maya and her family.”

Later that year, Moore and Irons were married, and in 2022, they announced the birth of their first child, Jonathan Irons Jr. In 2023, the couple published a book titled Love and Justice: A Story of Triumph on Two Different Courts.

In her first year of eligibility, Moore was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, where she will forever be immortalized among the all-time greats. During her acceptance speech, Moore reflected on how being one of the best basketball players of all time prepared her to become an advocate for social justice.

“I'm so grateful how I've been able to take my championship experiences to an even more precious context, which is our collective communities,” Moore said. “Championship culture can be found not just in sports, but in all aspects of life—in our homes, our schools, our neighborhoods.”

“Much of the work in building championship communities is unseen,” she continued.

The brilliance of Maya Moore on the court is only eclipsed by her commitment to justice and equality off it. While athletes are often criticized for being self-aggrandizing, Moore’s selfless act stands in stark contrast to the ethos of American professional sports. She was captivated by a vision and calling that transcended her individual exploits as a basketball player.

In a world steeped in pervasive inequality, systemic racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, Moore’s story is one that empowers those in the trenches. It shows the world that Black athletes should not turn a blind eye to the societal ills that continue to plague the African American community.