The place that calls itself the “Basketball Capital of the World” is again making its presence felt in the city that served as the game’s birthplace. Sue Bird and Maya Moore are set to join the growing group of UConn basketball players in the Naismith Hall of Fame.
Though their names will be linked for posterity as Class of 2025 inductees, and both authored unforgettable moments at UConn, in the pros and the international arena, they in fact took very different roads to Springfield, where they will be inducted Saturday night.
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Bird’s career was notable for its longevity. She became one of the biggest stars in the sport, and retained that status, as well as her on-court play-making abilities, past the age of 40. Moore walked away from the sport in her prime, cramming her many achievements into a little more than a decade, to pursue causes that grew nearer and dearer to her heart. Though separated in age, Moore, 36, and Bird, 44, both became eligible this year and were easy choices for the selection committee. They join Rebecca Lobo (2017) and Swin Cash (2022) from UConn women’s basketball, Ray Allen (2018) from UConn men, and coaches Jim Calhoun (2005) and Geno Auriemma (2006).
Here are some of the career highlights and achievements of the newest UConn Hall-of-Famers.
Maya Moore was a winner in high school, at UConn, in the Olympics and the WNBA before retiring at 29.
Maya Moore
Before UConn: Her teams at Collins Hill High in Gwinett County, Ga., were 125-3. She scored 48 points in a national tournament championship game in Seattle and dunked the ball in a contest at age 16.
At UConn
Nov. 11, 2007: Made her college debut with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals in a win over Stony Brook. Post season, she was the first freshman to win Big East player of the year in men’s or women’s basketball.
Jan. 17, 2009. Moore scored 40 points in a win over Syracuse, with 10 made threes, and became the fastest player in UConn history to get to 1,000 points.
April 7, 2009. Moore had 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists as UConn beat Louisville and completed a 39-0 season with the national championship. Moore was the first sophomore to win AP’s player of the year award.
April 6, 2010: Moore scored 23 points, nearly half the Huskies’ points, with 10 rebounds, as UConn beat Stanford 53-47 to complete another 39-0 championship season.
March 29, 2011: Moore scored her 3,000th point at UConn, in an Elite Eight win over Duke. She finished her career with 3,036 points, tops in school history. The Huskies were 146-4 with Moore on the roster.
In the WNBA
*Moore was the first pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft, going to Minnesota.
Oct. 7, 2011: Moore has 15 points and seven rebounds as the Lynx beat Atlanta to clinch the WNBA championship. Moore, who played in the All-Star Game, was the first in The W to win rookie of the year and the championship in her first season.
July 22, 2014: Moore scored 48 points, still the fourth-highest in a WNBA game, in Minnesota’s double OT win over Atlanta.
Oct. 9, 2015: Maya at The Buzzer, Moore’s three-pointer lifted the Lynx to an 80-77 win over Indiana in Game 4 of the finals. Minnesota went on to win third title in five years. Moore scored 40 in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Oct. 4, 2017. Moore’s sixth career postseason double-double, 18 points, 10 rebounds, helps the Lynx clinch their fourth championship in her first seven years, a year after losing to the Sparks in the finals.
Olympics.
Aug. 11, 2012: Moore, with Bird and Diana Taurasi as teammates, and the U.S. beat France in the Gold Medal Game.
Aug. 20, 2016: Moore scores 14 points in 18 minutes to secure her second Gold Medal in USA’s victory over Spain in Brazil.
The end game
Aug. 21, 2018: Moore, age 29, played in her final game, the Lynx’s loss to the Sparks to end the regular season, She had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. She stepped away from the game to focus on family, and her efforts in social justice and prison reform, advocating for her future husband, Jonathan Irons, wrongly convicted of a 1998 crime. Moore never returned, though she did not formally announce her retirement until January 2023.
Sue Bird tore her ACL as a freshman at UConn, but returned to win two championships, and play 21 years in the WNBA (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
Sue Bird
Before UConn: Bird played at Syosset High on Long Island and Christ The King in Queens, N.Y. As a junior, she led Christ The King to a 24-3 record, then an unbeaten state championship senior season.
At UConn
Dec. 18, 1998: Eight games into her college career, Bird tore her ACL and missed the rest of her freshman season.
April 2, 2000: With Bird at point guard, UConn defeated Tennessee to finish 36-1 and win the national championship.
March 6, 2001: In the Big East Final at Gampel Pavilion, Bird’s buzzer-beater lifted the Huskies to a 78-76 victory over Notre Dame, still considered one of the greatest games ever played and immortalized in Jeff Goldberg’s book, Bird At The Buzzer.
March 31, 2002: With Bird at the point on one of the greatest teams ever assembled in women’s basketball, UConn completed an unbeaten season, defeating Oklahoma 92-70. Bird had 14 points and four assists in the game. Starters Bird and Cash are in the Hall of Fame from that team, certain to be joined by Taurasi.
Leaving school: Bird was not given a redshirt for that abbreviated freshman year, but in little more than three years scored 1,378 points, with 585 assists. She is still UConn’s record holder in 3-point percentage, 45.9 percent, and free-throw percentage, 45.9 percent. UConn was 136-9 with Bird on the roster.
In the WNBA
*Bird was the first pick of the 2002 WNBA Draft, going to Seattle.
July 15, 2002: Bird starts for the Western Conference as a rookie in the All-Star Game, playing vs. East point guard Dawn Staley. Bird averaged 14.4 points as a rookie in The W.
Oct. 12, 2004: Bird and the Storm win their first WNBA championship, sweeping the Connecticut Sun.
Sept. 17, 2010: Bird at the Buzzer, reprise. Her game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2 of Western Conference Finals vs Phoenix Mercury to complete 19-point comeback sent the Storm back to the Finals, where Bird hit another game-winner in Game 1 as Seattle swept Atlanta.
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Sept. 1, 2017. Bird became the WNBA career assists record holder with 13 assists and no turnovers in a win over Washington. She’s one of six to have 13 or more assists without a turnover in a WNBA game.
Sept. 4, 2018. Bird, age 37 and playing with a broken nose, scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead The Storm to a win over Phoenix in Game 5 of the West finals. Seattle went on to win its third championship.
Oct. 6. 2020: Bird wins her fourth pro championship in the Orlando bubble, during the pandemic. She had 12 points, seven assists in the clinching win over Las Vegas.
June 16, 2022: Bird announced her plans to retire at the end of the season. She ended her 21-year career as the WNBA’s leader in games played and assists.
Olympics
July 23, 2021: Bird carries the U.S. flag in Tokyo to begin the quest for her fifth Gold Medal. She got it on Aug. 7, with seven points, three assists, three rebounds in a victory over Japan. She won Gold in Athens, Beijing, London, Rio and Tokyo.
