Maya Moore jersey retirement: Minnesota Lynx raise the legend's No. 23 to the rafters

Moore led the Lynx to four titles during her historic career

By Jack Maloney Aug 25, 2024 at 12:23 am ET• 2 min read

The Minnesota Lynx honored the greatest player in franchise history, and one of the best the WNBA has ever seen, on Saturday night when they retired Maya Moore's No. 23. The ceremony took place after the team beat the Indiana Fever, 90-80, to clinch a spot in the playoffs. 

The moment we all been waiting for 🥹

4x WNBA Champion Maya Moore-Irons #23 jersey officially hangs in the rafters at Target Center right where it belongs

A legend on and off the court 💐 pic.twitter.com/rW5FXOCX50

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 25, 2024

"I think about how Napheesa [Collier] and I are from a small town in the middle of Missouri with not a lot of apparent opportunity," Moore said after her jersey was raised to the rafters. "People weren't expecting much out of us, but you have moms like Kathryn Moore who have vision and have a greater vision and say 'no, the expectations aren't here, the expectations are so much higher.' 

"That's what we did on the Lynx. Some people might have thought 'oh, the expectations, WNBA team up in Minnesota.' We said, well, let's show you what a group of people, but particularly for the WNBA, a group of women, can do when they take all of themselves and bring it too each other every day. We take that and we bring it and we give it to all of you guys every day. And you guys show up for us and give it right back. That's why we're here right now, to remember how good that felt."

Moore, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, immediately turned around the fortunes of a franchise that, prior to her arrival, had not won a playoff series in over a decade of existence. In her first season, Moore won Rookie of the Year and helped the Lynx win their first title. She never looked back. 

In just eight total seasons, Moore put together one of the most complete WNBA careers of all time: