"She’s a Hall-of-Fame person.": Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings on rival Maya Moore's enshrinement, career and legacy (EXCLUSIVE)

Soon, Maya Moore will enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Fame with a resume filled with everything you’d want in a basketball player.

The resume includes multiple team accolades: four WNBA championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), two NCAA titles (2009, 2010) and two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2015). The resume touts individual accomplishments: two John Wooden Wards (2009, 2011), WNBA rookie of the year (2011), three WNBA MVP awards in Finals (2013), regular-season (2014) and All-Star game (2015, 2017, 2018).

What makes this even more impressive: Moore cemented an extensive resume despite shortening her career following 11 years to devote full time toward social justice efforts. That included working to overturn the wrongful conviction of her longtime family friend and future husband, Jonathan.

When Hall-of-Famer Tamika Catchings stands as one of Moore’s presenters on Saturday, Catchings will think more about what Moore accomplished with her Christian faith and her family than what she showed on the hardwood.

“Who she is as a person is so much greater than what she did on the court,” Catchings told Sportskeeda. “That is a piece of who she is, of course, with the basketball and accolades. But I would say when you look at Hall-of-Fame, it’s not just her being a Hall-of-Fame player. More importantly, she’s a Hall-of-Fame person.”

Catchings spoke extensively with Sportskeeda about Moore’s Hall-of-Fame career, their two WNBA Finals matchups (2012, 2015) and how they cemented a bond stemmed from their mutual respect for each other’s game and faith.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

It’s not surprising that Maya Moore will be in the Hall-of-Fame. But what does this honor mean to you as well as being one of her presenter?

Catchings: “I’m excited for Maya. You look at her career and what she’s been able to do from the high school level to college and obviously the pros and the Olympics. What a blessing for me to have had the opportunity to play with her with the USA Olympic team and watch her, my little sister, from afar. I’m really excited for her and her family with what this honor means and her being able to share it with Jonathan, her kids and her family, it’s a huge honor.”

You’ve been quoted over the years that you were most impressed with Maya’s willingness to learn. What examples capture that mindset?

Catchings: “When you watch her game, she came to Indiana at one point and we had a chance to work out together. It’s not just learning. But for her, it’s both learning and teaching. For her, her mindset is that we’ve been about watching and learning. Watch us with the way that we work out, her attention to detail and her being super intentional about how we worked out.

But she was also open-minded enough to work out with other players. It’s kind of what you hear about on the NBA side. I’m sure now some of the WNBA players have their own camps, and bring some of the younger players up. But we were doing that years ago. Then we also had the opportunity to learn from each other with the Olympic teams. We never felt like we arrived at every single level. She was willing to ask the questions and ask how you can get better, watch, learn and grow and be a true student of the game. That’s exactly what Maya was.”

When did those workouts happen in Indiana?

Catchings: “That’s a great question. I don’t remember the exact year. But I remember she would work out and she would take off sprinting. I would be like, ‘What are you doing?’ I tried her regimen before the season started to get prepared for the ‘W’ season and really trying to come back in shape. That was her whole regimen with going up and down. I think she did 20 down-and-backs. At first, they were slow down-and-backs. As she was getting closer to the season, she made sure to pick up the pace to really get into game shape.

For me, toward the end of my career, I didn’t necessarily go overseas after 2014. So I was really trying to figure out ways to get in shape and get in game shape without having the games that we played overseas. That was something that I learned from her. I’m like, ‘Okay, I need to be running more and not just take a shot and running up and down the court!’ I’m trying to really get back into game shape. That’s something that she talked about and we joked about. I would say, ‘You’re running just to run, huh? No ball or nothing. Just take off.’ But that’s Maya – all in.”

What questions did she have for you when you all worked out?

Catchings: “We only worked out once. She went to Indy for a couple of days. That wasn’t a consistent thing. But with the Olympic games prepping and after all the practices, we were making sure that we stayed after it, got extra shots in and did our workouts together. That was a big thing. It’s about being game ready. You don’t know when you’re going to be in the game. But it’s about getting those extra shots and making sure that we were ready when we needed to take those.”

Maya has said that one of the biggest things that impressed her about you is how hard you always played and your passion. What feedback did you give back on those things during the Olympics?

Catchings: “I would say the same thing about her. We are both very faith-oriented. Between the two of us and here and there with Tina Charles, Swin Cash, they would be a part of our Bible studies and be able to share our faith. That was something that united us first and foremost. But from a basketball standpoint, we don’t know another speed other than 150 miles per hour. It’s funny. Even in practice, I remember them being like, ‘Yo, you need to chill!’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to chill. Nor do I want to practice bad habits.’ I want to make sure that everything that I do carries right over to the games. I don’t practice at a lower speed. I only practice at the speed that I know how to go. It’s the same thing for Maya. Defensively, that is something even over the course of the years that she got better at because early on, I remember talking with Geno [Auriemma] offensively that she’s going to go, but defensively, that is an area she needs to work out.

But to Maya’s credit, that is also something she addressed. She wanted to have a complete game. She wanted to get better defensively. She wanted to work at it, and not just be known as an offensive player that goes 150 miles per hour. She’s also able to be that defensive player that goes 150 miles per hour. And that’s within the flow of the game. She’s not doing anything erratic. But she’s definitely an all-around player that you want on your team.”

It's funny you say that. Because Maya has said when she was growing up as a player that people would call her “Little Catch.” What do you think of that?

Catchings: “We both wear knee pads. We both go all out. For both of us, when we play, we smile. Yeah, we go all out. But we genuinely love the game that we get to play. We were passionate about working out and passionate about playing at our best. Even more importantly, we were a strong representative of a young generation and the girls that were coming up behind us and being a solid example.”

To your point on how both you and Maya are very faith-oriented, in what ways did you lean on each other with that?

Catchings: “It was in every way. God is definitely the leader of our lives. With playing overseas, we both played in South Korea at the same time. I remember just being away from home. But when we would play with each other, that was a huge part of what we talked about with our faith and how you live it out daily and stay locked into his Word. Even for the Olympics, we have chaplain service. Every WNBA team has a chaplain. So we have chaplain services. Chaplain services are with the other teams. But I would say in my whole career, I probably missed maybe two and that was because I was injured.

I would say the same thing about Maya. That was something that was really, really important. There is a period of time that’s rocky. There was a time it wasn’t clear that ‘the W’ would continue with chaplains or not. Some teams were more into it than others. Some teams allowed more access to chaplains than other teams. But I think for both of us, that was a huge piece. It has been and is a huge piece of who we are. That’s something we chose to make sure we’d have. This is something that our players need and want access to with being able to stand up for that. I think with Maya, being able to use her voice, that’s something that has impressed me even as a young player coming in. She is going through her career, and even is stepping out to fight for Jonathan. Anything she believes in, she’s going to go and fight for. That’s huge for someone like her.”

Given how important faith and community are to you, what was your reaction when Maya decided to end her basketball career to focus solely on social justice efforts, including Jonathan’s court case?

Catchings: “I was with Maya. We support Maya. I supported Maya 100%. Maya is going to fight for what she believes in. She doesn’t make decisions just on a whim. These are things that she thinks about, thinks about and thinks about and prays about. The path that she takes is one she knows is the right path for her. As someone who has been around her, how I feel for her is I know whatever Maya chooses is the right path for Maya.

She has gotten her whole path aligned. We don’t get a chance to judge when we feel she should retire or how we feel like she should retire. This is something that is a decision that she makes. And all we can do is support her.”

How do you put her career in perspective? If Maya wanted to, she could’ve played a lot longer and get more accolades. But she already has accomplished a lot with winning four WNBA championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017), getting Finals (2013) and regular-season MVPs (2014) and All-Star appearances (2011, 2013-15, 2017-18) and two Olympic gold medals (2012, 2016).

Catchings: “And now she has the Hall-of-Fame. We look at basketball. But to be honest, basketball is such a small piece of who we are and what we do. It’s something that we do, but it’s not who we are. I know with Maya and Jonathan and her family and everything going on, I feel like what she did in basketball is a small glimpse of what she’ll do beyond basketball. I’m excited to see. Starting a family is something that we’ve always dreamed about.

We talked about that. Getting married and having kids and her Mom is still here and able to enjoy all of this. I can’t wait to see her Mom just because she has been there the whole time. It’s been her and Maya. And now to look at all of her accomplishments and what Maya has done through basketball, more importantly, on the other side of having a family and having the life and having a husband, being an advocate and still making and creating change through all of that.”

How about those Finals matchups. Starting in 2012, you all won the title and you won the head-to-head matchup against Maya. What was the key to that?

[Editor’s note: Tamika Catchings’s averages: 22.3 points on 42.9% shooting, 33.3% from 3 3.5 assists, 2.3 blocks. Maya Moore’s averages: 15.3 points on 39.2% shooting, 38.5% from 3, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists.]

Catchings: “The whole way that year shaped out was crazy with winning a gold medal with the Olympic team and then coming back to have that opportunity. You take advantage of the opportunities that you get. So I think for us, my teammates stepped up big. For all of us that came back from the Olympics, we all were tired. But we all were fighting for something that was so much bigger than ourselves when you’re with your team. It was my teammates. My teammates stepped up big time. We had players that got injured so players were in and out. But the bench stepped up. Players that had certain roles with coming off the bench and now starting stepped up.

There was a lot going on. But when I look back at 2012, the stars aligned the right way. It was fun. We went from being teammates a month or so before that with the Olympic team. Then we come back and we’re all fighting. We know there is going to be only one championship.”

Three years later, what went through your mind when you saw Maya hit the game-winning 3 in Game 3?

Catchings: “’Noooooooooo! (laughs). Stay down!’ Even now, I think about it. My whole life flashed before me with that one shot. It’s crazy. It was a great series. The time we had played against Minnesota, they were always very great games. I hope Maya doesn’t bring it up on the stage. That’s what great players do. They step up and make great plays.”

In Game 4, though, you helped the Fever win that game and defended Maya pretty well. What was key to that?

Catchings: “Knowing what happened the game before. Just trying to do whatever it takes to win. We both have been in that situation with losing games and not being able to win a championship. So by the time you get to the Finals, you put everything out there. By the time you get to the end of the game, you’re putting literally everything on the line and I will think about how my body feels only after the game. You’re putting in your heart and you’re putting in your soul. You’re putting every single thing into every single possession with defense and offense.

With Maya and me, there are a lot of similarities with the way that we play. Also for her, there are a lot more expectations with being that scorer and being that person when they get the ball. Rightfully so. There is a reason that she is a ’Jordan Athlete.’ She really has the ability to change the game when she’s out there.”

How do you compare/contrast the player that Maya was in the 2012 and 2015 Finals?

Catchings: “What you look at is growth. 2012 to 2015 is three years. But that is light years when you look at it from a basketball standpoint. The growth as a player physically, mentally and defensively, you can go back and look at those clips and say, ‘I was in the wrong position. I was doing this wrong.’ But you get smarter hopefully as you evolve into the basketball player that you are every single year. You should be working on something.

For Maya, it is about always being willing to learn. Coach [Cheryl] Reeve, every single year, I’m sure is like, ‘Okay, these are the things you got to get better at for next year.’ I’m sure from Maya’s standpoint, there are things she wanted to work on outside of what Coach Reeve wanted her to work on. So coming back and being a better player three years later, I can only imagine in her mind she’s thinking, ‘We’re not going to allow the same thing to happen in 2012 happen again in 2015.’”

Where do you rank Maya to the other great women’s basketball players?

Catchings: “It’s interesting. I don’t know if you look at it where you fit her in. You look at it as Maya is a great player and is one of those generational players that we’ve been blessed to have in our league to watch and follow. Of course, for me, I didn’t only watch and follow. I had the opportunity to play alongside her. It’s who she is, more importantly. We laugh. We’re goofy. We like to have a good time with Shirley Temples, singing and dancing.

That’s just who we are. We have a joy. She has a joy about her. Her joy is about family, friends, good times, good music and being around good people. That’s where we get our joy from and from our faith. So it’s hard to put her in comparison mode. Maya is who Maya is. She is great in her own way.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.