WNBA
Pat Borzi, Contributor, espnW.com 6y

Maya Moore says she has too much to do to be captain

WNBA, Minnesota Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maya Moore shed a little more light Wednesday on why she turned down the captain's role for the All-Star Game here later this month.

After scoring 10 points in Minnesota's 89-65 rout of Indiana, Moore said she realized she had too many commitments as part of  the Lynx hosting the game to take on captain's responsibilities as well. The All-Star Game will be July 28 at Target Center.

Moore said she "kinda sorta" knew what was required of the captain, but didn't learn the full scope of it until recently. She had other things on her mind. The defending champion Lynx have struggled lately, with Moore shooting 30.1 percent from the field in six games going into Wednesday.

"I wasn't really thinking about it," Moore said. "I was just trying to think about everything else I had going on, and focusing on the season and the team. There are so many roles, different things people can do during the weekend that will make it special."

This year the WNBA adopted the same All-Star format the NBA introduced earlier this year, designating the two top vote-getters as captains and letting them draft players from a pool of All-Stars. Moore and Washington's Elena Delle Donne led the voting. Candace Parker of Los Angeles, the third-place finisher, replaced Moore as captain.

The selections will be announced Thursday. Moore will still play in the game, along with Minnesota teammates Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus.

"Over the All-Star Weekend, the number of responsibilities that our players are going to have, and in particular Maya, she felt like her time was better spent not worrying about that piece [captaincy]," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "And frankly, Elena and Candace are excited about the new format and doing it. Maya is a selfless person and just said, let me focus on other things. She's excited. You can't say enough about the feeling they're going to have when they walk out here, and it's their fans."

Moore, who will be appearing in her seventh All-Star Game, said she appreciated everyone who voted for her.

"It's always amazing, the support and the love we get to see this time of year from fans and people voting for us," she said. "It's really special. It's also special just to be part of everything that's great about our game, celebrating the talent. I'm just happy to be a part and enjoy the weekend."

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