--- description: Find out why Maya Moore is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. title: Maya Moore: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f90167277a8667f/698a124f457a520b1dd646ad/time-100-Maya-Moore.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 22, 2020 # Maya Moore by Bryan Stevenson  IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR JORDAN BRAND- Jordan Brand Family Member, Maya Moore, arrives at the House of Jumpman on Friday, June 21, 2019, in Paris. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision for Jordan Brand/AP Images) IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR JORDAN BRAND- Jordan Brand Family Member, Maya Moore, arrives at the House of Jumpman on Friday, June 21, 2019, in Paris. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision for Jordan Brand/AP Images)Omar Vega—Invision for Jordan Brand/AP With multiple WNBA championships, Olympic gold medals and back-to-back collegiate national titles, [Maya Moore](https://time.com/5793243/maya-moore-basketball-justice/ "undefined") is “the greatest winner in the history of women’s basketball,” as _Sports Illustrated_ put it. So last year, when she decided to [forgo playing professional basketball](https://time.com/5770359/wnba-maya-moore-criminal-justice-jonathan-irons/ "undefined") at the prime of her career to advocate for reform of the [U.S. criminal-justice system](https://time.com/5783965/bryan-stevenson-criminal-justice-reform/ "undefined"), many were stunned. Moore has brought the same skill and determination that has made her one of the best basketball players in the world to [her advocacy](https://time.com/5849780/maya-moore-george-floyd-drew-brees/ "undefined"). This summer, she once again prevailed, helping to [win the release of Jonathan Irons](https://time.com/5800147/missouri-man-conviction-overturned-maya-moore/ "undefined"), who had spent more than 20 years in prison after being wrongly convicted. In the U.S. criminal-justice system—which treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent—that is a remarkable achievement. And Moore and Irons are [now happily married](https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/sport/maya-moore-jonathan-irons-married-wnba-spt-intl-trnd/index.html#:~:text=%28CNN%29%20Four%2Dtime%20WNBA,wrongful%20conviction%20she%20helped%20overturn. "undefined"). With so much angst, pain, sorrow and dismay in our nation, many are asking [what we should require from our celebrated athletes](https://time.com/5859194/athlete-activism/ "undefined"), entertainers and influencers. On the day of Irons’ release, Moore—who was there to greet him—evoked a powerful line from scripture: do justice, love mercy, walk humbly. _Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy_ Maya Moore Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888213/maya-moore/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888213/maya-moore/"},"headline":"Maya Moore","datePublished":"2020-09-22T20:12:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:19.147Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888213/maya-moore/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Pioneers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f90167277a8667f/698a124f457a520b1dd646ad/time-100-Maya-Moore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f90167277a8667f/698a124f457a520b1dd646ad/time-100-Maya-Moore.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888213/maya-moore/","name":"Maya Moore"}}]}] ```