Will Maya Moore retire, or just take a year off?

As the Minnesota Lynx approach the 2019 season, they are awaiting clarity on the status of Maya Moore.

For the just the second time in eight seasons, the Minnesota Lynx did not reach the WNBA Finals last year. Now, as things start to transition toward the 2019 season, WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reported earlier this week that star forward Maya Moore is considering not playing for the Lynx this year.

The Lynx designated Moore as a core player this week, which prevents her from becoming an unrestricted free agent in the same way an NFL franchise tag does. Giving the low salaries in the WNBA, players often spend their winters playing overseas. Moore took the winter off from international competition this year, citing a taxing 2018 season where the league compressed a 34-game slate by three weeks and the Lynx lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Moore also opted out of the Women’s Basketball World Cup, which is the first time she wasn’t on the U.S. national team for a major event since the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In a September interview with ESPN, Moore cited her need for a break from basketball.

"I can’t remember a year that has been as demanding as this one,” Moore said. “Coming from overseas to the compressed season, which everybody witnessed was an unbelievably competitive and tough season, top to bottom."

In reaction to the recent report about Moore, Lynx head coach and general manager Cheryl Reeve issued a statement on Thursday.

That statement from Reeve is a little cryptic. But the 2019 WNBA season doesn’t start until May 24, with Minnesota’s first game on May 25, so there’s time for things to be resolved one way or the other.

The four-time WNBA champion Lynx are in a bit of flux overall. Point guard Lindsay Whalen retired, and became the women’s coach at the University of Minnesota (her alma mater), while fellow core dynasty pieces Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson are free agents. The league is also headed for labor uncertainty, as players exercised their right to terminate the current collective bargaining agreement after the 2019 season. That necessarily puts aside anyone signing a multi-year contract.

There is simply not a more widely decorated American basketball player, men or women, than Moore. She has won four WNBA titles, two NCAA titles at UConn, two Olympic gold medals and multiple league titles overseas, to go with a list of individual awards too long to list. So if this is it and she retires, it’s been a great career.

There’s some chance Moore just sits out the 2019 WNBA season, as Diana Taurasi did in 2015, then returns after that refreshed and ready to play a few more seasons. With the league’s labor situation as it is, this seems like the perfect year to take a year off if someone were so inclined.