Two women’s basketball legends that played for the University of Connecticut, Sue Bird and Maya Moore, were enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
“This moment is truly overwhelming,” Bird said during her acceptance speech. “At every phase, there were people who made sure I knew I had a place in basketball…how basketball became my home.”
The ceremony took place at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Mass. Both were presented the honor by their former coach, Geno Auriemma, inducted as coach in 2006 and UConn great Swin Cash, who entered the hall in 2022.
“My biggest desire when I played was to help my team,” Moore said. “For me, one of the most profound aspects of team sports, I think, is seeing a group of individuals starting to trust each other.”
The Naismith “Class of 2025” also includes WNBA standout – and Moore’s Lynx teammate – Sylvia Fowles, NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, current Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan, retired referee Danny Crawford and former Miami Heat owner Micky Arison. The 2008 Olympic gold-medal-winning USA Men’s National Team was also honored in the team enshrinement.
Bird, who played for the Huskies from 1998 to 2002, contributed to UConn winning their second and third NCAA National Championship titles in 2000 and 2002. Moore, a UConn player from 2007 to 2011, also helped ring in back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010; both players earned numerous honors and recognition during their time with the UConn women’s basketball team, including National College Player of the Year.
Following UConn, both Bird and Moore also had successful careers in the WNBA. Bird played for the Seattle Storm for almost 20 years, winning four WNBA championships. Moore played with the Minnesota Lynx for eight seasons and was named WNBA most valuable player in 2014 in the midst of what would result in four WNBA championship wins. The duo played together on the gold-metal winning US Women’s National Basketball Team in 2012 at the London Olympics and 2016 at the Rio Olympics.
The enshrinees also had words of wisdom they wanted to share with the current basketball population.
“I want [the] next generation to know that it’s okay to wrestle with insecurities and fears as you navigate your sports journey,” Moore said. “But I want to challenge up-and-comers to learn, to love and to seek out connection as your biggest motivator.”
Moore thanked Auriemma and UConn for teaching her how to “be part of a team.”
“This honor really boils down to one word that Maya, Sylvia and I know doesn’t come easy, especially in the career of a female athlete: belonging,” said Bird.
Current UConn women’s basketball teammates and basketball superstars like Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, in addition to Big East commissioner Valerie Ackerman were in attendance at the ceremony.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which has a museum in downtown Springfield, inducts significant basketball figures annually based on the nominations by committees. The organization requires that a “waiting period” of two seasons be honored after a player retires before they would be eligible for the hall. Bird retired in 2022; Moore in 2018.
The hall of fame is named after James Naismith, the coach who invented the sport of basketball in Springfield, and established in 1959. The first UConn player to be inducted was Rebecca Lobo from the inaugural 1995 national championship women’s basketball team.
For more information about the Basketball Hall of Fame, and to listen to this year’s enshrinement ceremony, visit hoophall.com/events/enshrinement-2025.
