Maya Moore spreading her wings

Maya Moore lives her life in three cities across two continents, shuttling between two jobs. She has her own logo. She is 24, years beyond the blooming of her basketball greatness in Gwinnett County.

“I’m feeling in a really good place right now, as far as getting the hang of this whole ‘being an adult’ thing,” she said.

Moore spoke Saturday, just before the start of the Maya Moore Academy, a two-day basketball camp held at Life Time Athletic, an upscale health club in Sandy Springs. Moore is in between her two jobs, playing overseas in China and for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA. She has led the Shanxi Flame to league championships in its past two seasons and will attempt to win a third WNBA title in her four years in Minnesota when the season begins in May.

“It’s been busy,” she said. “So much has happened in these first three years, of having an Olympic experience and three unbelievable seasons with the Lynx and three unbelievable seasons overseas. It’s just been really fun.”

Moore is seeing her career lift off. Following the 2013 season, she was named first-team All-WNBA for the first time. She was named WNBA Finals MVP when the Lynx swept the Atlanta Dream in three games in October.

The Jordan Brand, the Nike arm which made Moore its first women’s basketball player endorser when she turned professional in 2011, created her own logo, an “M” designed to look like a pair of wings.

“I think it really captures my game, just as far as it being a bold, solid mark,” she said. “It’s got some finesse to it, it’s got some strength to it. It’s very upward-facing and moving forward and it makes you feel like you’re flying.”

Even for a woman who has known little but professional success and seems to possess an unusual maturity and confidence, it has been a lot.

“There’s definitely moments when I sit back and think about all the blessings that I’ve received, the opportunities that I’ve been given and the fun I’ve had doing it with some awesome people that I would have never met if it wasn’t for this awesome game of basketball,” she said. “I need to do that more, probably just sitting back and thinking about the journeys that I’ve been on.”

Kathryn Moore, Maya’s mother, said there is “more in store” in her association with the Jordan Brand.

The logo is evidence of Nike’s investment in her to represent the company and to move merchandise. The camp was a demonstration of that potential influence in the marketplace. About 50 girls attended the camp, coming from as far as New York, Connecticut and Ohio, each paying $250 to spend two days learning basketball and leadership skills from Moore.

Moore seems quite aware of all that she represents. Her aspirations: “I think just continuing to expose people to what we have to offer. We meaning me as an individual, as a basketball player, as a person, the game of basketball, the Jordan Brand, the WNBA, just all the leagues that I’m a part of and the partners that I have are just awesome.”