Maya Moore is in her prime and she has every reason to be playing basketball. As a WNBA star, many people are confused about why she’s choosing the sidelines in a game she excels at to be on the frontlines in a fight many people choose to ignore. For Maya, her cause is clear.
Maya shocked people in the WNBA when she announced she was taking off another season to support Jonathan Irons. He’s been in prison after being tried as an adult as a teen and convicted by an all-white jury. Maya got involved because the details of his case led her to.
Though prosecutors said Irons admitted to breaking into the home where a homeowner was shot (and survived), he and his team deny this. There were no witnesses, fingerprints, blood, DNA, or footprints connecting him to the crime, but there’s more to the significance of this fight.
Maya is one of the leagues dominating players as a four-time champion in addition to being the 2014 MVP. That wasn’t all that mattered and her decision to support Irons just paid off.
A judge in Missouri decided to overturn the ruling against Irons and now everything has changed.
Jonathan said Maya saved his life and now he has a chance after over two decades behind bars. She’s a major player, but Maya’s fight for Jonathan shows us that we’re all important players in the fight against injustice. When it comes this, Black America can’t afford to lose.