There were 1.7 seconds left in a tie game, in a tied WNBA finals series, in a very loud arena in Indianapolis. Minnesota Lynx ball.
Out of a timeout, coach Cheryl Reeve inserted Lindsay Whalen — unable to play much of the game, much of the series, because of an Achilles injury — just to make the inbounds pass. She knew the play, knew Maya Moore Irons, knew what to do. The first option? Sylvia Fowles, down low.
Covered. Up top, Indiana guard Marissa Coleman was in the passing lane. So Moore Irons faked one direction, drifted.
Whalen faked a pass inside, then lofted the ball to her. We return to the 2015 finals, Game 3, not solely out of a sense of nostalgia, though that’s a big part of it. This weekend is all about nostalgia.
On Saturday night, the Lynx will retire Moore Irons’ jersey. It will be joined in the Target Center rafters with the others: Whalen, Fowles, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson. This on a night Minnesota hosts the Indiana Fever, whose star rookie guard, Caitlin Clark, grew up adoring Moore Irons’ play.
The starting five on two of the Lynx’s four WNBA titles together, again. Whalen said seeing all five jerseys together will lend a finality to her about that time she hadn’t felt before. Fowles reflected on how humbling it will be to see them all together and the almost overwhelming sense of sisterhood.
You can’t distill an amazing career to 1.7 seconds. Moore Irons won two NCAA titles at Connecticut, four WNBA titles, two world championshi.