Top 20 Players | #1 – Maya Moore
Kyle Ratke
August 20, 2018
Maya Moore is a winner.
Not only is she on teams that win, she’s generally the biggest reason why.
We could go back to her accomplishments in high school. Her two NCAA Championships with UCONN. Or her two Olympic Gold Medals and two World Championship Gold Medals with Team USA.
But this is about why Moore is the best Lynx in team history. And the fact that she’s only 29 years old seems like it should be a typo. It feels like she’s been winning for the last 15 years.
Well, I guess she has.
After being drafted first-overall by the Lynx in 2011, the team went from winning 13 games, to winning 27 games and the WNBA Championship.
There was no coincidence there. The Lynx had Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson. But the missing piece was Moore.
Moore was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
There are some athletes you know just have it. Maya is one of those athletes.
“Maya is a very, very special, unique person and athlete,” said Chris Wright, who was the team president when Maya was drafted. “Maya’s the total package. I’ve always wondered why certain athletes have got to be the way that they are, and Maya is such an incredible human being first. Such an incredible person, and is so grounded and so rooted in who and what she is and the way she acts, that just is so visible in the way that she plays.”
Moore has led the Lynx to four WNBA championships, being named Finals MVP in 2013. A season later, she took home WNBA MVP honors, averaging 23.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Moore’s made six All-Star teams, winning MVP the last three games, something no player in league history has done.
She’s been named to the All-WNBA First Team five times, and the All-WNBA Second Team one time.
Moore is already solidifying her place in the WNBA record books, even though Moore’s career is far from over.
- 39th in league history in rebounds
- 35th in assists
- 25th in steals
- 8th in points per game
- 21st in career points
- 12th in 3-pointers made
Throughout her career, Moore’s averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per season.
It’s almost a sure thing that in five or 10 years when we put together another list like this, Moore will be ranked No. 1. And she’ll probably hold more than a few league records, and hopefully a few more rings.