Maya Moore, Sylvia Fowles To Be Inducted Into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

The Minnesota Lynx teammates, who won two WNBA titles together, will be one of nine inductees as part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in September.

Two of the greatest players to ever step on the court with the Minnesota Lynx and in the WNBA are officially Hall of Famers.

On Saturday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the nine inductees who will enter the Hall of Fame as the Class of 2025, with Lynx legends Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles included on that list.

Moore and Fowles join fellow WNBA great Sue Bird as the three women inductions, joining six other inductees who will officially enter the Hall during the Enshrinement festivities on Sept. 5-6 in San Antonio, Texas. The duo also joins fellow Lynx greats Seimone Augustus (2024), Lindsay Whalen (2022), Katie Smith (2018) and Teresa Edwards (2011) in the Hall of Fame to go along with already being inductees into to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

As a duo, Moore and Fowles played together for four seasons, going on to win two WNBA championships while making three trips to the WNBA Finals on one of the greatest teams in WNBA history to ever play together.

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Moore broke into the WNBA in 2011 as the top overall pick after a decorated college career at UConn, taking the league over by storm from the get-go with the Lynx. Moore helped lead Minnesota to four WNBA titles over seven seasons before stepping away from the game after the 2018 season to focus on criminal justice reform.

Moore was named Rookie of the Year, WNBA MVP and WNBA Finals MVP once each, earning six All-Star selections and being named All-WNBA First team five times, All-WNBA Second Team twice and All-WNBA Defensive Second Team twice. She also captured two Olympic gold medals and two FIBA World Cup gold medals with Team USA.

In 2024, Moore had her jersey retired at Target Center, putting her up in the rafters as the final addition to the dynasty starting five that will go down as one of the best in WNBA history.

“It’s more than my mind can grasp,” Moore said on ESPN about her induction into the Hall of Fame. “Going through our careers, we were just trying to be the best teammates we can, enjoy the game and enjoy each other. And then you look up and go ‘oh, it’s time to go into the Hall.’ It’s just such a humbling thing because it makes you feel the thickness of the family in basketball.”

Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Fowles started her professional career in 2008 with the Chicago Sky, playing seven seasons there before joining the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 via a trade, later retiring as a Lynx after the 2022 season.

In her Hall of Fame career, Sweet Syl was an eight-time All-Star, four-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time WNBA champion, two-time Finals MVP and one-time WNBA MVP while concluding her career as the league’s all-time leading rebounder.

In 2023, Fowles had her jersey number retired to join the greats whom she shared the court with during Minnesota’s dominant runs to four titles: Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson, Augustus, and Moore.

“I don’t think either of us went into this thinking we’d be Hall of Famers,” Fowles said on ESPN. “You just do your job, you go out there and have fun and enjoy the company. When it’s all said and done, the job is complete. And here we are.”

For both of these legendary talents on the court, they have made an even stronger impact in the community and by being involved in many things off the court — perhaps an even more impressive achievement that gets overlooked with the on-court accolades.

Something we have all known for a long time is officially coming true in 2025. Moore and Fowles are now Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers, putting two incredible players and human beings among the list of the greatest to ever step on the court or impact the game.