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WNBA ALL-STAR GAME

July 28, 2018

Maya Moore

Minneapolis, Minnesota - Postgame

Team Parker - 119, Team Delle Donne - 112

Q. Maya, can you sum up the week and what it means to you to win this one at home?
MAYA MOORE: Yeah. You know, there's so many special things that happened over the course of these two and a half days, whether it's the clinics that we get to do with the kids, we had an all-girls' clinic that we got to participate in earlier, a few days ago, and just all the excitement from yesterday. It's a lot of energy for us. But it's worth it, I think, for the experience that our fans get to have, and to cap it off today with a really entertaining day, a fun day, I think you could see it on all of our faces, we had a good time. To have that fun reciprocated with the crowd, it was just a great time to be here just with the beautiful new Target Center and so many of our fans showing out and fans from all overcoming and being able to enjoy Minneapolis right now and enjoy what we have here.

Q. Allie Quigley was just in here and she was very touched by the fact that you mentioned her in your postgame interview on the court, and then Elena [Delle Donne] and Candace [Parker] were in here raving about the three-point contest. How much fun and how inspiring was it to watch particularly the last two as it was going right down to the end?
MAYA MOORE: Yeah, I'm a fan. I'm a basketball fan. I'm a fan of greatness. I think anybody who knows anything about basketball is it's great shooters. That's kind of one of the first things you think about, people who can shoot the ball, and Allie is one of those players. Candace and I and Chelsea [Gray], we were just watching her and just commenting like, just look at her, just her form, just how efficient she is with her shot. It just seems to float off of her hand into the rim. Candace was like, look at the way she just adjusted when she was just a little bit off, and I was commenting on the depth of her shot. Like we were just admiring one of the great players in our game.

When it went into OT, we were going crazy because K-Mac [Kayla McBride] came back and brought it to overtime, and you couldn't have drawn it up any better, and then she beat her old record from last year. It really did give us a boost. It was our first W of the day as Team Parker, and we wanted to carry it over to the rest of the game.

Q. When you found out that Syl [Sylvia Fowles] and Seimone [Augustus] were going to be on the other team, what was the conversation like before the game, and did you want to take it to them at all? Was there a little friendly rivalry there?
MAYA MOORE: Well, I told Syl she wasn't allowed to block my shot. That worked out. Seimone was chattering a little bit. We actually didn't even guard each other at all at any point in the game, so Rebekkah [Brunson] held it down for us.

But it was fun just to kind of be able to give each other little looks. I was giving Seimone looks in the tunnel before the intro. It was really fun just for a day.

Q. You mentioned the clinics from earlier this week. Can you talk a little bit about the -- how much it meant to have those clinics here with the game here, to really impact local kids?
MAYA MOORE: Yeah, it's a memory for so many, not that we traveled somewhere and went to an All-Star Game, but the All-Star Game was in our hometown, and so we're making memories. Some of those girls I've seen at my academy, my camps. Some of the girls had been to Lynx camps before, so they are already invested, just making another cool memory now with All-Stars, and not just us. So I'm pretty sure they're never going to forget that afternoon in the beautiful Mayo Clinic Square and our practice court. It for sure gave us energy with -- the energy that they had for sure gave us energy.

Q. Yesterday you said I kind of like having that pressure-free environment of an All-Star Game and just having fun, but you had a really great fourth quarter. What was the point where you were just like, we have to win this and I'm going to have to have an impact here because I just want to win?
MAYA MOORE: It's not really that thoughtful. It's just, you're playing the game. Everybody at that point understands what it is. You just -- you're just playing. You're feeling it out, making moves in rhythm, and fortunately there's not the level of defensive pressure that there ordinarily would be, and so a lot of times we'll make it. Just wanted to either make the pass, hit the shot, get the rebound, those little things make a difference in the fourth quarter of an All-Star Game.

Q. Elena and Candace were talking about how happy they were that you were finally able to win a trophy --
MAYA MOORE: (Laughs.)

Q. Seriously, three in a row now. Reaction? Do you have room? Is there room?
MAYA MOORE: This is the second time someone has asked me that in the last 10 minutes. Thank you for your concern for my storage space. No, it's crazy. It really is. To just be fortunate enough to be in positions to continue to win, to be playing well, to be healthy, to be here, and obviously to do it here in front of our home fans, friends, family is so special and makes it even more special. But I will get back to you with the storage space answer.

Q. Were you aware that you set some WNBA All-Star records, and if so, were they a priority? Did you care about them? Did you want to set them?
MAYA MOORE: No, and please tell me what they were. I'm unaware. Now you've got me excited.

Q. Points and baskets made.
MAYA MOORE: Oh, just overall. Right, I think I did hear that stat, and I had no idea. It's one of those things you keep showing up, keep doing what you do, doing what you love to do, and fortunately we win the game because you can't get MVP if you don't win the game. It's been amazing.

Q. You guys will get a chance to take a breath and then you will dive back into this crazy season. Any team that wants to make the Playoffs over the next couple weeks needs to do what?
MAYA MOORE: Find a way to win. You have to be so focused, so locked in, and all the little things make a big difference when it comes to getting a win or not getting a win every night. Some nights you'll have two, three, four games, and after those two, three, four games it's radically changed with the standings. Teams have to be able to focus in and execute down the stretch. Again, the margin of -- from victory to defeat is so, so narrow. It's great for the game. It's just very stressful for anyone who's invested in us as people because these games, like you can -- they're devastating because we're all picking up our intensity, and so each game feels so -- it feels like a playoff game. I'm sure as the season winds down, it will be an absolute playoff atmosphere.

We'll see what happens. Just making sure that we control what we can control here on the Lynx and continue to try to play our way.

Q. You're no stranger to being an All-Star, but you can't deny that this was a special crowd today. What makes this one so much evidently sweeter than the rest?
MAYA MOORE: I mean, first of all, the turnout was beautiful to look around. It just felt good in there. I think people were just really excited to have it here at a fun time, having -- especially having Rebekkah there, having four of us was really special just to have another All-Star. It's so funny, it's like my rookie year when there were four of us down in San Antonio and then four of us here, we've had several of us there before, but you just don't want to take it for granted. So I just appreciate having my teammates around and all the people who have been making this place a special place around, as well.

I think all the All-Stars who aren't Lynx enjoyed not being booed and cheered for for 48 hours. So I'm sure everybody will remember it for their own reasons.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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