Maya Moore has won almost everything possible in basketball, and part of her success is owed to the Olympics.
One of her first memories of the Olympics was seeing the U.S. women's team, led by Sheryl Swoopes, raise arms in victory after winning the gold medal in Sydney in 2000.
She said watching the women's team in Australia didn't inspire her, but it gave her the confidence to be a young, female athlete. She remembers thinking that if they were playing, she could do the same.
"I didn't have to be a trailblazer," she said. "It's a cool time for me to come up with and have that sense of belonging."
Today, Moore, a 6-foot forward, is a member the U.S. team that will play in the Summer Olympics in London.
Kathryn Moore, Maya's mother, said making an Olympic team wasn't her daughter's focus, but it was one of her goals.
"She's just competitive by nature," Kathryn said. "She's been the type of person that always strives for excellence. She's a perfectionist. She always wants to do her best at anything she does."
And Moore usually achieves her goals:
- She won three state championships at Collins Hill High.
- She won two national championships at Connecticut.
- She won a WNBA title at Minnesota.
- She has even won a FIBA world championship and Euroleague championship.
Now she will go for a gold medal in the Summer Games. She doesn't want to win it for herself. She wants to win it to maintain a standard. The gold in Sydney was the second in a string of four consecutive Olympic championships. The United States has won six gold medals in the sport from its introduction in 1976.
"It would be a great accomplishment as an individual, but for everything USA basketball represents, it's important to continue our legacy," she said.
As Moore improved, she began to think about adding to that legacy.
"It's such a process to make the team ... all the talented athletes out there with only 12 spots," her mom said. "She certainly put it in her list of goals as she got older as she moved through the USA pool."
Today Moore is considered one of the better women's players in the world, if not the best.
In addition to her team honors, she has won most every important individual honor, including being named the WNBA Rookie of the Year after leading the Lynx to the title last year.
She was named to the Olympic team on March 30 by her former coach at Connecticut, Geno Auriemma. It's a reunion that Moore said she looks forward to because rarely does a pro player get to play for an old college coach.
Though the U.S. team is expected to win gold, Moore said it won't be easy. The U.S. women will open against Croatia on July 28. The gold-medal game will be played Aug. 11.
The team features Dream forward Angel McCoughtry and coach Marynell Meadors, who will assist Auriemma.
Moore currently is a reserve on the team, but she sparked the U.S. team to an 88-63 victory over Great Britain in a warm-up match in July.
"It's going to take coming in, five players at a time, and just playing together," Moore said. "Figuring out how to execute and playing to our strengths. It's one thing to have a lot of talent, and it's another to execute a game plan. We have to be smart and be strong."
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