Georgia Tarheel Sportse

Maya Moore: ‘A lot of reasons to love Atlanta'

Note to fans of Maya Moore: When she leads the Minnesota Lynx twice this weekend against the WNBA Atlanta Dream, she will not bring any bling.

Her splash into the pro game, as the No. 1 draft pick and a deal as the first women’s basketball player to hawk Nike’s Jordan Brand, hasn’t changed her life much, her style even less. She’s gotten used to being on top of every level of her sport, so as a purely practical matter, what’s the point of changing?

“I have not splurged on anything,” she said in a conference call from Minneapolis earlier this week, shortly after her 21st birthday.

“I bought a pair of sandals, but I don’t think that counts as splurging. ... I’ll save my money, and I might buy something nice after some thought and planning. It won’t be anything crazy.”

The Dream (1-3) will see more of Moore starting Friday, when they play the Lynx (3-1) away at 8 p.m. On Sunday, the teams rematch at 3 p.m. at Philips Arena — the only major local hardwood that Moore hasn’t touched. “I feel like I’ve been to a Thrashers game,” she said, but never had the chance to even see the Hawks while she was leading Collins Hill to three state titles and a 125-3 record.

The three-time Wade Trophy winner (for national college player of the year) still considers Atlanta her home base, especially since her mother, Kathryn, moved back from Connecticut.