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WNBA star quit season to help man out of prison

2020-07-02T22:58:09.882Z


Four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore chose to leave the season to help reverse the sentence of Jonathan Irons, who Moore says was serving a 50-year sentence on…


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(CNN Spanish) - Four-time WNBA champion Maya Moore chose to take time off the season to help reverse the sentence of Jonathan Irons, who Moore said was serving an unfairly 50-year prison sentence.

This Wednesday, Irons became a free man, and Moore was one of the first people to receive him.

"Thank goodness it's over," Moore said in a video she posted on Instagram of Iron's release. The video was accompanied by a single word: "FREEDOM".

They met in 1998, when Moore was just 16, working with the church in prison. Irons had been convicted of the robbery and armed assault of a homeowner, a conviction that was overturned by a judge in March.

"I feel like I can live life now," Irons said Wednesday. "I am free, I am blessed, I just want to live my life worthy of the help and influence of God ... I thank everyone who supported me - Maya and her family."

A star at the climax of his career

Moore, a basketball superstar who is going through the best years of his career, announced in January that he would be absent from a second consecutive season to focus on criminal justice reform.

"When you take time to fight for people, and light up a dark place, it won't sit well with everyone," said Moore. "When the cost is your comfort or maybe something you just want to see and enjoy, I get it."

“Entertainment is a place where you relax and you don't have to worry about what's going on in the world, but we are part of that world and the world is broken. So I take off my hat with the people who sacrifice themselves, who pay the cost of a platform, a job, money to rise up in favor of something greater than yourselves. And in the end, if we remember that we are human beings first, I think it will make it a little less controversial. ”

Moore is considered one of the best female basketball players - and winners - of all time. Her career is full of records. It was the first WNBA Draft pick in 2011, being chosen by the Minnesota Lynx. She won the rookie of the year award and claimed her first WNBA title in her debut season. She won the title again in 2013, 2015 and 2017, being chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the Finals in 2013 and the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 campaign.

She also was a member of the US women's basketball team, earning Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, plus two world championships in 2010 and 2014. When she played at the University of Connecticut, the Huskies remained undefeated for two consecutive seasons, earning the national title. in 2009 and 2010.

BasketballMaya MoorePrisonPenal SystemWNBA

Source: cnnespanol

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