79. "Winning With Justice" with Maya Moore Irons

Maya Moore Irons’ career speaks for itself. As a multi-time champion and all-star for the NCAA, WNBA, and an Olympic Gold Medalist, she achieved almost every success possible in the sport. Yet she shocked the sports world when she left the court at the height of her game—leaving one kind of court for another. Years earlier she met Jonathan Irons, a man sitting in a jail cell hundreds of miles away who didn’t deserve to be there in the first place. God planted the seed of justice within her after that first encounter with Johnathan. And the way God unfolded that story is truly one for the record books. Join us as we hear how Maya’s faith remained her constant strength throughout her career and while fighting for social justice reform within the criminal prosecution system.

Guest Bio:

Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons’ story has all the makings of a modern fairytale: full of faith, friendship, a fight for justice, and ultimately the triumph of love. 

Maya is a basketball icon—a two-time NCAA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time WNBA champion, and WNBA MVP. Jonathan was just 18 years old when he was wrongly convicted by an all-white jury for a crime that occurred when he was 16. With no physical evidence tying him to the crime, Jonathan was handed a 50-year prison sentence, of which he served 23 years. Their lives juxtaposed, it might seem unlikely that their paths would cross.

Yet, it was right before her freshman year at UCONN that Maya was introduced to Jonathan by her family involved with prison ministry. She heard his story, and over the next decade, as Maya graduates from UCONN and is drafted into the WNBA, Jonathan pours himself into earning first his GED, then develops a deep understanding of law. The two forged a close friendship, grounded in their shared faith and cultivated through their dedication to finding his freedom. Then, in 2019, at the peak of her career, Maya shocked the world when she decided to step away from basketball to focus solely on Jonathan’s case. 

After a winding, yearlong effort, Jonathan was finally released. The next day, Jonathan proposed to Maya, and weeks later, they were married. Maya was the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2021 ESPYS, and the story of her fight for Jonathan’s freedom was told in the ESPN 30 for 30 film “Breakaway.” In 2023, Maya and Jonathan welcomed their first child, Jonathan, Jr. (“JJ”), and published their joint memoir, Love and Justice.

Notes & Quotes:

• “I was like, ‘Oh, this is. . . I’m more like Jesus than I’ve ever been in my life.’ And I wasn’t just like, I’m going to be Jesus in this picture. Like we’re all helping each other, but I’m getting a chance to relate to the gospels and relate to some of these things I’m seeing in Scripture because I need [Jesus]. Because I am seeing this oppression.” 
• “I don’t know what’s going to happen necessarily, what’s next to do, but I know [God] is going to provide. He’s going to show up every season, every year. You get heartbreak, but then He’d show us something, and then hold on nothing’s happening, and then something, and then He would just keep us going. He’d show himself really undeniably in different ways where it was like, we’re on the right track.” 
• “The goodness of God and the goodness of this story is what’s going to win.”
• God’s heart is about justice, and mercy, and dignity, and caring for the vulnerable. . . this is what the Kingdom of God looks like at its purest.

Links Mentioned:

• FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
• Learn more about Maya’s work with Win with Justice.
• Check out Maya and Jonathan’s book, .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}