Belonging in a Championship Culture: Sue Bird, Maya Moore, enter Basketball Hall of Fame
Geno Auriemma, Rebecca Lobo, Swin Cash, Sue Bird, Maya Moore.
In addition to UConn women’s basketball and national championships, these five individuals now share another strong bond. All of them are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Moore and Bird officially entered Springfield’s hallowed halls on September 6. Both first-ballot inductees joined Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Sylvia Fowles, the 2008 Redeem Team, and others in a talented class.
One may first think of Bird when asked about UConn’s greatest point guards, and for good reason. The New York native averaged 10+ points and 4+ assists per game in each of her final three collegiate campaigns in Storrs. Her 231 dimes as a senior stood as the Huskies’ single-season record until Nika Mühl, the program’s all-time leader, broke it in 2023.
Bird still possesses the WNBA’s all-time assists mark with 3,234 over her professional career. The 2002 Naismith College Player of the Year picked up each of those apples across a 21-year stint with the Seattle Storm. Months after the franchise drafted her in 2002, Bird felt like she fit in with the city’s rich culture.
That sense of inclusion, whether at UConn or in Seattle, enhanced her overall game and aided her development into a franchise point guard.
“I could not have found my place if I was not lucky enough to find my people,” the five-time Olympic gold medalist said during her enshrinement speech.
Feeling like she belonged also helped her overcome being the shortest player on the AAU teams she played for as a kid. It required Bird to build one of her gifts, her basketball IQ, early in her career. She faced many tougher tests over the years, but one loomed above the rest.
“The game itself is relatively simple. The hard part is not knowing how to but when to,” the three-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner commented. “In my career, the biggest challenge was knowing when to reinvent myself at so many pivotal moments. Only I could do it, but I did not do any of it alone. It was the people around me, the second family who helped me through.”
Having that support system ultimately paid off significantly. The city of Seattle renamed a street near Climate Pledge Arena after the 2002 Wade Trophy winner in 2024. Just last month, Bird became the first WNBA player with a statue. Simply put, the 12-time WNBA All-Star changed the game.
So did Moore, whose impact started the moment she stepped onto the Storrs campus as a student. The Georgia native earned All-American honors all four years and won National Player of the Year twice. Only Paige Bueckers has won Big East Freshman and Player of the Year in the same season since Moore achieved that feat in 2008.
UConn’s all-time leading scorer lost just four games in her collegiate career, the same number of championships she captured with the Minnesota Lynx. Across eight years in the WNBA, Moore averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 3.3 assists while making the playoffs every season.
The desire to win and contribute wherever necessary fueled the two-time national champion, both in Storrs and in Minnesota. Moore noticed something else as she advanced in her basketball career, however.
“One of the most profound aspects of team sports is seeing a group of individuals over time start to trust each other and truly play for each other,” the Georgia native stated during her enshrinement speech. “It is what makes champions champions.”
Moore won six total titles and two Olympic gold medals between 2007 and 2017, but she also secured pivotal victories off the court. The 2014 WNBA MVP stepped away from basketball in 2019 to pursue Jonathan Irons’ release from a 50-year prison sentence. A Missouri state judge overturned his conviction in March of 2020. Four months, two failed appeals, and a declined retrial later, Irons became a free man.
Pressing for his release required Moore to implement the championship culture she experienced and mentioned throughout her speech. Just as important as what the public saw, though, was what occurred away from the spotlight.
“Much of the work in building championship communities is unseen. It begins in the dark,” the two-time Wooden Award winner explained. “But once it springs to life, you cannot deny it. It is strong and inspiring. Each of us has the power and the responsibility to keep that alive wherever we are.”
People will see more than an incredible, maybe even generational, basketball player when they reflect on Moore’s legacy. They will see a social justice champion, a table-setter for community and culture.
It is those things and more that motivate the 2011 first overall pick, who offered that same wisdom to future generations.
“Do not miss out on learning from someone more experienced than you,” Moore expressed. “The joy of helping someone else get better, seeing them shine at what they are good at. The joy of having people around you that believe in you and you believe in them. Seek that culture out. Be a part of that culture.”
Sue Bird and Maya Moore have more than earned the recognition they have received thus far. The WNBA franchises they played for have already retired their numbers; getting that same honor at UConn should take place in due time.
UConn’s Hall of Fame pipeline, specifically in women’s basketball, will only get stronger. Diana Taurasi, the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer, becomes eligible for induction in 2027. Tina Charles, the league’s all-time leader in field goals made, should follow suit three years after she retires. Breanna Stewart’s college career, two WNBA MVPs and three Olympic gold medals have her on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
One bond will forever tie these players and more. Moore highlighted the impact multiple people can have on one’s legacy. Bird expanded on that idea, encapsulating each member of the 2025 class’s entrance into basketball’s pantheon. “It is about joining a community where I will always belong—a belonging that can never be taken away.”
