Maya Moore Pregame Availability | 8.24.24

Maya what's it like to be back and what's it like to be also back coincidentally the time when Caitlyn Clarks here talking about how she hugged you when she was a young girl yeah it's so special just to be back to be able to look people in the eye that I've had so many memories with um with the linkx family um last night being able to celebrate with Simone and Taj and um we did uh a pack the vote event last night too just connecting with the community in that way so just all the things I love um the people and just the causes that we pour ourselves into so it just felt like a perfect welcome back but and then Caitlyn you know obviously the full circle moments she was uh so well put for this this game uh it just feels like you couldn't have uh planned it any better emotion wise when you see your number up in the Raptors tonight I mean what's going through your mind or what do you think is going to be going through your mind in that moment that's a good question um I think it will be I think time will stand still a little bit this is one of those things that as you guys probably can guess I don't necessarily think about a lot but then I'm going to be forced to think about it in that moment and feel all the things of just gratitude and and um probably being very overwhelmed with just the ridiculous amount of talent and quality people I got to doal with um as it's going next to uh the other great players that I've gotten to play with hey you officially retired last year but it's been a while since you played um was there a moment in between last year and when you left the game after the 2018 uh season that you were like ah maybe maybe I would have come back is there anything that could have broken differently that would have made you come back you know I tried to take it a year at a time um The Journey that I had was not expected but it was exactly the journey that I was supposed to go on and so the way my life was going and the amount of effort and presence that was required for where I was going um as each year went along it it didn't look like I could I could shift back um but I just wanted to kind of stay in the moment and also just keep things open until I was really sure um so I'm really glad of how I tried to approach that very strange process um but also even more glad that we're here now with closure and just being able to clearly move on and celebrate and just look back on all of the amazing things we did during our Dynasty so you're saying you're never gonna come back well yeah no I'm I'm retired retired thank you Maya Caitlyn was in here you mentioned her a moment ago and talking just so eloquently about what you mean to her and there was the hug that she remembers guessing maybe you probably you probably hugged a lot of little kids yeah do you have any recollection of even that time period or how many kids you might have been hugging at that time or just anything because she remembers it so well and understandably of course you were you were giving a lot of hugs back that any thoughts at all thanks I know unfortunately I I don't um I I love kids I've always I've Loved kids since I was a kid and so um most most times if a a young person caught my eye I was going to try to interact with them if I could um I probably have more memories of me being Caitlyn's age you know as a 10-year-old and hugging a cnth Cooper or uh you know Cheryl swoops um so it's just really really cool to to think about one of those little girls who became Caitlyn Clark so um I think it just goes to show you when you just do your best to be in the moment and treat people with kindness um and just be present when you can uh it really makes a big difference and looking at the type of person and leader that she can be with people um was influenced by something that I did and and she can do the same for another little girl little boy um it's just encouraging Ma you talked about all the things you have going on in your life right now how attach are you to the game you watching games are you rounded or you kind of distance yourself a little bit Yeah goodness the game uh it's it's it's complicated the older you get the more you realize this innocent game we we grew up loving um in the business of basketball and and trying to navigate that tension of we don't want to make the business of basketball all consuming right we want to always remember we're human beings first and I wrestled with that in my young adult years trying to navigate what does it look like for me to be a well healthy whole human but also being in this basketball business and so I think I've gotten some maturity in that and Clarity of my connection now of just trying to be a voice trying to be a presence here and there to um hopefully encourage people to appreciate people on a deeper way these players on in in a deeper way um while also still being like I love watching basketball I love the game it's beautiful it's fun just the especially the way the links are playing right now it just reminds me a lot of our teams as far as that chemistry uh the toughness the grit um having some depth and really not caring who gets the credit so um I I enjoy when teams and cultures show themselves on the court that way and I hope it continues that we can continue to see cultures like what the links have uh always be a part of the game yeah my tonight's um sponsored by Jordan brand just wanted to talk about you know being the first female you know on Jordan brand what that meant to you that relationship throughout your career as well yeah it was that was also unexpected part of my journey being a senior in college and uh asking my agent wait say that again uh Michael Jordan want okay let's talk about this and uh we made the partnership u a reality and the greater basketball world and the women's basketball world became more one um making the game better I think more beautiful exposing people who otherwise maybe wouldn't have seen the beauty of the women's game um and just I think overall speaking to dignifying valuing honoring women uh that's really at the at the at at the bottom of it all what we aim to do in all of our Partnerships is to is to make everyone feel feel worthy um and and dignified and seen so um as as women we have experience in in our day and age of of knowing what it's like not to feel as seen but also seeing that change and the encouragement and the momentum and the beauty of when you when you see people more deeply and and better uh it just makes everything better Maya you mentioned uh right up here uh this current links team a little bit uh fellow links from Jefferson City Missouri nefisa ker had a heck of a game uh last night Kai and rebounds what have your impressions of uh fee been uh this season um as well as season's past and just how impressed are you with her yeah she is on on fire um I think that's what it says on the on the on the uh the uh what is that thing called the what yes in the middle of the Arena the scoreboard thank you complicated word on the scoreboard it says fe's on fire like that is such an accurate way because she's just You Can Tell She's got that fire and bouncing her step she's in her in her groove in her element um and she can do many things well and she doesn't care like she she doesn't care who gives a credit like she was was rolling there for a minute I think it was in the third quarter and it's one of those moments like go she going to have a heat check and she drives and she kicks it to the open player like she's so just in uh in in Focus I can just tell that she is hitting her Prime and disguised the limit for for her so I still just can't wrap my mind around our paths how similar they are meeting her as a freshman uh somewhere around their eighth grade nth grade and going to Yukon and then getting drafted to the links and it's just really cool I think that connection that we have because of that is just uh we'll always remember Maya what are the chances that we one day see coach Maya GM Maya team owner Maya somewhere I mean what a chance you have another official role in the WNBA at some point um at this moment in time that's not uh something that I see myself doing um but I always want to stay connected to the people somehow and some way um so right now it's sitting here uh tonight for my retirement you know obviously when it comes to Jersey retirements it's about Legacy what does legacy mean to you in this moment Legacy it's what you're remembered for um I think Legacy hopefully is a about how you treated people how you carried yourself what story you're telling the world with your life and um when people think of me I think they they think of passion I try to play as hard as I could um I think coach TBO someone was saying the other day he said I was relentless I was like yeah that's pretty accurate I I always have my foot on the gas um but I also tried to play with joy and um and just seeing people um celebrating the rookie that just got barely on the team to saying Hey to the fans that have disabilities that show up every day for us taking a time before every game to high five them um using my voice and my platform to shine a light on people that might not have a light on them um but I also worked my tail off right like I feel like I I tried to leave it all out there and and role model with it looks like to just grind every day but do it with joy so um you add that into all the other greatness that I had around me and you get what we got Maya you've already done so much with your life what is next for you what's next making sure JJ is has a clean diaper uh mom life uh wife mom uh rooted in my community um you know so many of us don't live this life of being on planes and out of a suitcase where we do the hard work of just being a member of our community of our family and so I'm looking forward to actually taking the wonderful culture and lessons I've learned from being a pro and bringing that to my people that I actually know and do life with um whether that's being a more engaged citizen um helping to shine a light on the teammates in my community that that don't have a light on them um taking care of myself making sure I'm well and healthy and um but just definitely enjoying uh you know being a mom of a toddler right now and just establishing our family Rhythm you know my husband and I have been married for four years and celebrate our anniversary last year four years and so we're we're working hard at figuring that out because that's not easy uh if any of y'all are married say woot woot um that's a lot of work to establish the system of a family and so that's something I'm enjoying a lot right now and there's probably some more books in my husband and I there's um just ways we want to Vision cast and inspire people with our story um so there's just just countless ways that that we can continue on kind of the same things y'all were seeing with the off the court stuff um just without me on the court so I'm I'm excited to to see what that looks like you had so many amazing moments as a linkx team member does one moment stand out as maybe one of your favorites or the first game last game made me choose one top three thank you gosh the pressure of one ah um I mean the shot hitting that 1 point 7 Seconds coach Subs we in even though she's hurt throw me the perfect P Sills causing a tension down low Indiana fans are losing their minds all you see in that in that picture uh it's just the fans just speechless as the shot is going up and then the you know pump fake one dribble right goes up all I remember is it was so eerily quiet after the shot went in and then Rebecca hugging me and I'm like oh back to life what happened did it did it count even though I knew it I got it off but we had to take that minute to figure out if it counted and that was a that was a memory you know you don't get many opportunities to to hit shots like those and um I think in 2016 when we had our our press conference to say change starts with us and just the Catalyst that that time was for the culture of sports that we didn't realize was going to be such a catalyst um and also just in 2017 um winning at the U ofm and what a grind that series was and watching still get MVP again and it was just it was so fun you know that was ways we knew wey was getting close to the end for her and that was really satisfying too so my top three thanks for one fin question um this will complete the starting five of that 2017 team uh all being in the Raptors forever the only one who's still really here on the court is coach Reed yeah um what is your relationship with coach reev since you've left the team have you stayed in touch at all uh what just can you say anything just about her what your relationship with her was as a player and how that changed when you finished playing um I was so thankful when I got drafted here to get to know Cheryl um very similar to Gino that that that fiery um you know Philly I guess uh one one Philly to another Philly but um she's so smart and she's a teacher at heart and I I thrive under that um I just I really really enjoyed being coached by her um how she set us up uh for success and navigating so many personalities and talent like that's not easy um but we also kind of made it easy for her CU we were we didn't you know we didn't care who got the credit um but that's hard to sustain that leadership and culture year after year after year after year and she's still doing it so I think her Legacy speaks for itself with what you see um in her players and um but she also cares about us as people and when I was trying to process my shift and and how I was going to navigate it she as heartbreaking as I know it was for her to hear more of what I was thinking and going through she was like you need to be okay and you need to do what what you need to do and I just I love her for that I love her for being a person first just like she is like we she is who she is like how you guys see her that's how she is and I love I love that um but since uh retiring I haven't been able to keep in touch with her as much as I'd like but when we get together it's just like I never left and checking in on the family and you know if you ever need anything um she is who she is still so um can't wait to get to see her I haven't gotten to see her yet um and just celebrate tonight thanks guys