Maya Moore was the consummate small forward, and yes, it feels weird saying “was.”
We’re always looking for the perfect basketball player and debating what that means. Moore is on my short list of perfect players that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
On the men’s side, there’s been Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. On the women’s side, Diana Taurasi is the most lethal scorer I’ve ever seen. Her range and her heart and determination make her probably the greatest women’s player of all-time. But when I think of “perfection” I think of versatility, a trait in women’s basketball that has been highlighted by the three bigs who could/can do it all: Lauren Jackson, Elena Delle Donne, Breanna Stewart.
Moore had at least one way in which she was better than all of those players. She was of course a better shooter than LeBron, played with more physicality than KD and had MJ and Kobe beat in rebounding, as she leaned more toward being a small forward than they did. Yet she had all the skills of an elite shooting guard to put her ahead of LJ, EDD and Stewie when it came to handling the ball, driving and finishing acrobatically. Plus, she had an athletic build and corresponding athleticism matched only by LeBron.
So, I’m here to remind…
