Maya Moore: The WNBA legend who gave up basketball to fight for justice

As is the case with many elite level athletes, they work tirelessly away from sport to make the world a better place.

Maya Moore’s story is an astounding one — full of passion, dedication, and the ultimate sacrifice.

In 2019, at the peak of her basketball career, Moore announced she would be withdrawing from the sport she had dominated for years.

The Minnesota Lynx star stunned the world. The legendary Maya Moore, still in her prime, was sitting out of the upcoming WNBA season.

With four WNBA championships, a league MVP award, and six-time WNBA All-Star appearances, to name just a few of her achievements, what could make one of the most iconic players of all time want to take a step back while in the form of her life?

For Moore, it was a no-brainer. She was faced with a decision that for her, had only one outcome — play basketball, or help free an innocent man from a 50-year prison sentence.

In 1998, a 16-year-old Jonathan Irons was accused of burglary and the non-fatal shooting of a man named Stanley Stotler in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri.

Irons was arrested after Stotler identified him as the shooter. The teenager pleaded his innocence but the system failed him after the case stood in court — issues with identification were overlooked and a crucial fingerprint report eliminating Irons’ DNA from the Stotler house was not submitted as evidence.

A police affidavit from an officer claiming Irons had confessed during a non-recorded interview with no witnesses also stood against the case.

Irons was served an adult conviction and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Moore was made aware of the case when she was 18 and she went on to strike up a friendship with Irons but did not talk publicly about it until 2016, when she