Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons’ story is about faith, love, and success. The WNBA star took a short break from the game when she was at the top of her game to help get an innocent man, Jonathan Irons, out of jail. After 23 and a half years in prison, Irons was found innocent and set free. Moore was waiting for him at the prison gates because their friendship had become love.
The couple married soon after Ironson was freed. On Monday, they appeared on Good Morning America to discuss their new book, Love & Justice: A Story of Triumph on Two Different Courts.
When writing their story, she said, it was overwhelming to relive the years of their marriage and ministry. “In the journey, you’re trying to do it one day at a time,” she said. “To read it all together made me feel well and be more inspired by Jonathan’s life and how God put this all together.”
Irons’ husband said that the process of healing was challenging. He talked to a counselor, who told him that “the more he read it, the more it helped him to get it done.” “I could flip a switch and say, I won’t be there anymore; I’m past that. I’m free,” Irons explained.
“I just had to remind myself continually,” he added. Irons realized he had lost a lot of things and suffered greatly, but he decided every day to be grateful for each day that he had. He said that he had not guaranteed anything for the future. “It’s possible that I’m still behind bars, but I’m not.” Now Irons lives his life with gratitude and focuses on what he does have—beautiful family members whom he loves dearly.
The book tells the story of how Irons was wrongfully put in jail and how he worked hard to learn the law so he could try to get his conviction overturned. Moore writes about how she became a better basketball player and met Irons through a family member who worked on his case. It also has love letters from before he got out of prison and looks at their life since then, including getting married and having kids.
In his book, Irons revealed that his wife, Maya Moore, is a sweet, loving, and caring person who is also his best friend. “She lives in the present, shows up, and is there,” he wrote.
“He is truly talented in so many ways,” Fowles said of her husband, a lawyer and former basketball player. “It’s one thing to talk to him on the phone and see his brilliant legal mind; it’s another to see how he brings people together, starts businesses, and raises children. A true shepherd’s love for his flock, he has been a sight to behold. Thanks to my significant other, I can finally relax.”
“I’m ready to retire from pro basketball,” she said. “I walked away from the game four years ago, but I want to make it official. This is such a sweet time for our family and us, and we’ve done some great work with our nonprofit—we want to keep doing that.”
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