WNBA superstar Maya Moore announces break from pro basketball
Minnesota Lynx superstar Maya Moore said Tuesday that she will sit out the 2019 WNBA season to focus on herself, her family and her ministry. Moore, the 29-year-old former MVP, made her announcement in The Players' Tribune.
"There are different ways to measure success," she wrote. "The success that I've been a part of in basketball truly blows my mind every time I think about it. But the main way I measure success in life is something I don't often get to emphasize explicitly through pro ball."
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who has won four titles with Moore, expressed support for Moore's decision in a statement Tuesday.
"As she recently shared, Maya has expressed a need to shift her attention more fully to family and ministry dreams in a way that she has been unable to as a professional basketball player," Reeve said. We support her in this exploration and will continue to provide her the love and care she has always known from her Lynx family."
The Lynx reportedly used the franchise tag on Moore in January, which prevents the five-time All-Star from becoming a free agent and signing with another team.
"I will certainly miss the day-to-day relationships with my teammates and basketball family this season, but my no for the 2019 pro season allows me to say yes to my family and faith family like I never have before," Moore wrote. "I'm sure this year will be hard in ways that I don't even know yet, but it will also be rewarding in ways I've yet to see, too."
CBS Sports' Jack Maloney writes that Moore's decision is not all that surprising considering the low pay of WNBA players. Most athletes are ultimately forced to play year-round as they play during the winter overseas.
Moore, who played college ball at UConn, was selected as the first overall pick in 2011. She averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists during her eight years with the Lynx.
