A single Minnesota Lynx blue pom-pom waved in section 118 of Philips Arena, prominent in a sea of Atlanta Dream fans like 6-foot-5 Erika de Souza standing among third graders.
Kathryn Moore, mother of Lynx superstar Maya Moore, was cheering on her daughter.
As commonplace as t-shirt cannons and jumbotron antics are at Lynx games, so is an appearance from Kathyrn.
“The team that I’m on, she’s a big part of that family wherever I’m at,” Maya Moore said of her mother.
The reigning WNBA champions came to Atlanta Friday night with plans to improve their record to 9-1 and a chance to do so against the team they swept in last year’s finals.
Such was not the case.
Moore returned home to Georgia — she led Collins Hill High School to three state titles between 2003 and 2007— to play in front of 6,684 fans, the largest crowd the Dream has hosted this season.
After four years in the WNBA and two titles won against the Atlanta Dream, Moore’s reception in Atlanta appeared a bit less warm, especially when her court exit courtesy of two quick fouls early in the first quarter was met with boos.
“Well that should be normal,” Moore said.
“I have a lot of awesome support from friends and family here and they cheer for the Lynx. There’s some people that maybe want to cheer for me and then the Dream, but there’s a lot of people I know that cheer for the Lynx.”
At halftime, Lynx cheers were sparse in Philips Arena as they trailed the Dream 55-33. Although Moore, who entered Friday’s game as the league’s leading scorer (24.1 points per game), scored a season-low 10 points against Atlanta, Minnesota orchestrated a second-half comeback that brought the crowd to its feet.
“I thought she played more poised in the second half. I thought she was rushed in the first half,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said of Moore.
Despite coming within two points with less than a minute left, Minnesota could not overcome its first-half deficit.
The Lynx still maintain the top spot in the Western Conference, although Moore likely did not want to begin her 25th year with a loss. Having had little time to acknowledge her birthday on June 11, Moore will have to postpone any celebrating for a little while longer.
“Unfortunately my birthday came at an extremely busy time in the season so maybe end of next week when we have some home games I’ll be able to,” she said.
With a list of accolades that includes an Olympic gold medal and two WNBA championships already, Moore says she’s nothing short of blessed.
“There’s no secret to that,” Moore said. “From Connecticut to the Olympics to this team right now that I’m currently on, it’s been just an unbelievable opportunity and I’m just trying to make the most of it and [I’m] having a lot of fun doing it with this group in particular.”
Moore likely won’t sweat Friday’s loss for too long. If the last four years are any indication, she’ll get a shot at the Dream again soon enough.
