Last Updated on July 28, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Maya Moore combined elite scoring, relentless defense, and an unmatched drive to win, creating one of the most accomplished and impactful careers in WNBA history. A league MVP, Finals MVP, and multiple-time champion, she became the centerpiece of a dynasty before stepping away from basketball at the height of her career to pursue social justice work.

Here is the detailed information on Maya Moore:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: Maya April Moore
  • Nationality: American
  • Age: Born June 11, 1989
  • Hometown: Jefferson City, Missouri, USA
  • Height: 6’0″ (1.83 m)
  • Weight: 175 lbs (79 kg)
  • Wingspan: 6’1″ (1.85 m)
  • Shoe Size: Size 11 US (women’s)
  • Number: Wore No. 23 throughout her WNBA career
  • Position: Small Forward
  • High School: Collins Hill High School, Suwanee, Georgia
  • College: University of Connecticut (UConn) (2007–2011) – She led UConn to two NCAA Championships (2009, 2010).
  • WNBA Draft: 1st overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx.
  • Teams Played For: Minnesota Lynx (2011–2018; she took a break from basketball in 2019 and announced her official retirement in 2023).
  • Championship Rings: 4 WNBA Championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) with the Minnesota Lynx.
  • Kids: 1 son, Jonathan Hughston Irons Jr. (born in 2022). She married Jonathan Irons in 2020 after helping secure his release from wrongful imprisonment.
  • Siblings: She has two sisters, Ashley and Olivia Dabney.

Player Archetype / Play Style

Maya Moore’s player archetype was an elite two-way scoring wing, a forward who could carry offense, make smart passing reads, and still swing possessions with defensive timing and anticipation. At 6-foot-0 and 175 pounds, she had strong frame control, polished footwork, and the kind of smooth athleticism that let her play above traffic without looking rushed. Defensively, her role was that of a versatile team defender who could generate steals, rotate on time, and make impact plays from the wing side, while offensively she operated as a primary scorer and secondary playmaker who could punish defenses from the arc, attack off the bounce, and score efficiently in transition or half-court actions. Her overall play style was poised, skilled, and forceful, blending shot-making, off-ball instincts, and winning habits in a way that made her one of the defining forwards of her era. (WNBA)

Scouting Report

The first thing you notice about Maya Moore isn’t the scoring, even though that’s what most people remember. It’s how quickly she recognises the advantage before everyone else does. She could attack a scrambling defence without over-dribbling, slipping into gaps with one decisive move, cutting behind a defender who turned their head for a split second or relocating into open space the instant a teammate drew two defenders. She never looked rushed because she rarely had to manufacture difficult possessions. She simply found the easiest one before it disappeared. When she did handle in pick-and-rolls, she kept defenders guessing by changing pace instead of relying on sheer burst, comfortably pulling up if the big stayed deep or turning the corner when the on-ball defender was screened cleanly. The interesting thing is that her passing often came from scoring pressure rather than playmaking ambition. Help defenders collapsed because they respected her ability to finish, which opened simple kick-outs and interior feeds that arrived exactly when rotations began to break down. Defensively, she covered an enormous amount of ground without gambling unnecessarily. She rotated early from the weak side, anticipated skip passes, fought through off-ball screens and used her length to contest jump shooters while remaining connected to the next action if the offence kept moving. That’s where her value expanded beyond individual matchups because she constantly erased small mistakes made elsewhere in the defence. The trade-off was that against particularly physical forwards who wanted to play exclusively through power on the block, she occasionally gave away some ground before using quick hands and positioning to recover. To me, her ideal role is as the offensive hub on a team built around movement, spacing and multiple decision-makers, where she can alternate between initiating actions, finishing them and quietly dictating the rhythm without monopolising the ball. There are similarities to Kevin Durant in the effortless shot creation from all three levels and ability to score over disciplined defence, while her constant off-ball movement and instinct for finding the next opening also resemble Kawhi Leonard at his most efficient, though Moore played with a freer, more fluid offensive rhythm that made every possession feel one step ahead of the defence.

Sources:

WNBA — Maya Moore Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status, and More
WNBA — Maya Moore Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft …
WNBA — The Magic of Maya Moore: The Career of a True Champion
Minnesota Lynx — Top 20 Players | #1 – Maya Moore
Minnesota Lynx — Lynx Forward Maya Moore Announces Her Retirement From The WNBA
ESPN — Maya Moore Biography