WNBA Star Maya Moore Marries Man She Helped Free From Prison Over Summer

WNBA star Maya Moore shared some surprising news on Wednesday, announcing she is married to Jonathan Irons, the man she helped free from prison this summer. The couple went on to Good Morning America to share the news and revealed they got married shortly after Irons was released from prison. Irons was incarcerated for 23 years before becoming a free man in July.

“We wanted to announce today that were are super excited to continue the work that we’ve been doing together, but doing it as a married couple,” Moore, 31 said. “We got married a couple months ago and we’re excited to just continue this new chapter of life together.” Irons, 40, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1998 after being convicted of breaking into a Missouri home and shooting the homeowner twice. Back in March, a judge ruled that prosecutors suppressed fingerprint evidence, which then led to Irons’ release.

On GMA, Moore talked about how they first met, which was 13 years ago. “I was about to be a freshman at [the University of Connecticut] and my godparents and my great uncle introduced me to him and his story, his case,” she said.

“He had been wrongfully convicted, he had been in prison over a decade at that point, so I was just interested in learning,” Moore added. “I got to know him and over the last 13 years we have just developed a friendship and [then] entered this huge battle to get him home and over time it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts. Now we’re sitting here today, starting a whole new chapter together.”

Irons revealed that he proposed to her while in prison a few years ago but didn’t want Moore to answer the question until he was released. He then asked her again once he was free from prison. Moore has been pushing for Iron’s release since February of last year when she announced she was not playing the upcoming season. In January of this year, Moore said she would miss another season to once again help get Irons out of prison.

Moore is one of the most successful players in WNBA history. She was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in 2011 and has led the team to four WNBA Championships. She was named WNBA MVP in 2014, selected to the All-Star team six times and is a three-time winner of the WNBA All-Star MVP award.