Maya Moore, husband Jonathan Irons publish book "Love and Justice"
MINNEAPOLIS -- Basketball great Maya Moore is sharing her story of sacrifice and perseverance in her new book, "Love and Justice."
It's a story of how she took her confidence from the basketball court into the court of law to help free a man wrongfully-convicted as a teenager.
She was one of the greatest to play to game: two-time NCAA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion and WNBA MVP.
Moore was on top when she walked away to pursue justice for a man wrongfully convicted and inspire activism in others.
"I was on this journey with Jonathan just trying to do the next right thing fighting for his freedom," she said.
Jonathan Irons was 16 years old when he was wrongfully convicted of a crime cited by an all-white jury where there was no physical evidence.
Moore's extended family met him during prison visits. She met him years later and her faith led her to do something for one of America's forgotten Black sons.
"We saw the facts, we saw what was happening and we were just outraged at how this could happen to a teenager at the time," said Moore.
She took the confidence she displayed on the basketball court into another court, hoping to free an innocent man and spark a movement to fix what is wrong with the justice system.
"We brought that confidence into the courtroom with us because we knew we had the people we had the team we had the citizens and thank God we had a judge who was also committed to justice," she said.
Irons' conviction was overturned after 23 years, and during Moore's walk with him, something unexpected happened. He proposed the day he was set free, a love story for the ages.
"The foundation of our love story is friendship, and you get to see that unfold in our book and in our story," Irons said.
In "Love and Justice" the fight for dignity and freedom is tied to a story of a friendship that led to marriage.
"We just want to give people inspiring vision, we want to give them tools to know how to see better, how to feel better, and how to act better because we are all on the same team we are all human beings," said Moore.
Now this couple fight against injustice and speak on the importance of voting for prosecutors who have integrity and have a deeper vision than getting a win.
Irons says his wife kept him anchored and gave him during his darkest days, and both hope their book can do the same for others.
"I would describe it as me being in a desert and getting a drink of water. Not only a drink of water, a source of water. They were so life-giving to me in that place," said Irons.
Moore and Irons use their social action nonprofit, "Win with Justice," to raise awareness and advocate for issues surrounding criminal justice reform.
