Lynx's Maya Moore Taking The Year Off
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Amid much speculation as to whether she would return to the Minnesota Lynx or seek a trade, forward Maya Moore has announced she will be sitting the year out.
"I will not be playing professional basketball this year," Moore announced Tuesday. "My focus in 2019 will not be on professional basketball, but will instead be on the people in my family, as well as on investing my time in some ministry dreams that have been stirring in my heart for many years."
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve issued a statement following Moore's announcement, saying, "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. We support her in this exploration and will continue to provide her the love and care she has always known from her Lynx family."
In her most-recent season with the Lynx franchise, Moore was named to the All-WNBA Second Team. It was the seventh-straight time Moore was named either All-WNBA First or Second Team.
"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," Moore said Tuesday. "I'm thankful to my Lynx family and others close to me who have been walking with me during this shift, and I'm excited to see what the future holds."
Moore started all 34 games this season for the Lynx and played in 271 of 272 since her arrival to Minnesota in 2011.