'Still unbelievable': ESPN doc 'Breakaway' is powerful look at story of Maya Moore, Jonathan Irons

Rudy Valdez hadn’t reached his hotel room yet when his field producer called him back to the hotel lobby.

“They’re going to get him!” Valdez remembers being told.

“Him” was Jonathan Irons, the man sentenced to 50 years in prison for an assault and burglary he did not commit – and the man Maya Moore put pause on her professional basketball career to help free.

Valdez, a filmmaker, had just arrived in Missouri. Moore and her family weren’t sure exactly Irons would be released and thought it could be a few days. Before Valdez could charge his camera batteries, they got their answer.

Moore and Valdez had spoken over Zoom and on the phone, but this was the first time Valdez met Moore in person. Now they were seated next to each other in a van on the way to pick up Irons.

“Maya didn’t – she didn’t have to make this,” Valdez told USA TODAY Sports about the 77-minute documentary he directed, “Breakaway,” that chronicles Moore’s journey from basketball champion to navigating the legal system on behalf of Irons – now her husband. The film premieres Tuesday on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET and will available for streaming on ESPN+ after.

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Moore has done few interviews since she opted out of the 2019 WNBA season, and the documentary is by far the most in-depth she has talked about her decision to stop playing as a 29-year-old two-time WNBA champion. The film hardly delves into the basketball future for Moore, now 32, and Valdez said either decision she makes won't come as a surprise to him.

Produced by Robin Roberts’ “Rock’n Robin Production,” footage began being collected prior to Valdez’s arrival on the day of Irons’ release. Cameras capture the rush to the jail, and a comedic moment occurs when Moore realizes she’s forgotten her godfather, Reggie Williams, who initially began the process of overturning Irons’ case.

After a brief synopsis of Moore’s career on the court, the documentary shifts to Irons. He provides details about dropping out of school at 16 and selling drugs. Irons would hide the money earned in the sofa and convince her his grandmother she was collecting “dropped” money.

On Jan. 21, 1997, police arrested Irons for allegedly fitting the description of a robbery in the area. The documentary goes in-depth on how a person like Irons, then a teenager with little resources, has the criminal justice system stacked against him.

Hugh Flowers was a music teacher for 46 years and volunteered as the choir director at the prison in which Irons was incarcerated. He took a liking to Irons.

“The first teacher I had to reach me,” Irons said in the documentary.

A teary-eyed Irons recalls on specific interaction that would change his life:

“Can you be my dad?” Irons asked Flowers.

Yes.

Flowers’ daughter is Cherilyn Williams, Reggie’s wife. The couple are Moore’s godparents. Moore met Irons when she was 18 while visiting the Williams’ shortly before her freshman season at Connecticut.

In the film, Irons remembers feeling total peace looking into Moore’s eyes for the first time. They would speak on the phone once every month or two. The post-game on-court interview waves were for him – only he knew that.

Reggie Williams, after meeting Irons, threw himself into the case, poring over the files and reports. He discovered that the former defense team for Irons – either out of neglect or incompetence – did not file evidence that showed another latent fingerprint from the crime scene. It proved to be the key to freeing Irons more than a decade later.

Valdez in particular is a fan of Williams, referring to him as “my unsung hero of the documentary.”

“He’s the coolest, but he’s also the kindest,” Valdez said. “And he’s so generous with his time and his emotion and his truth, he’s a documentary filmmaker’s dream, the way he lays things out.”

The film speeds up to the summer of 2016, with Moore and the Minnesota Lynx leading a trend of athletes and sports teams taking stands on social justice issues. Moore created her non-profit, “Win With Justice.” She eventually walked away.

Irons felt conflicted. He didn’t want to be the reason for this. But it was Moore’s decision, and “Maya took the whole case to a whole another level,” Williams says in the movie.

Over the years, it became clear Moore and Irons cared about each other. While still incarcerated, Irons asked her to marry him but was adamant she did not have to answer. She said yes anyway.

“The whole story, even though I went through it,” Williams says, “it’s still unbelievable.”

Days after being released, Jonathan Irons and Maya Moore married in a small ceremony on July 10, 2020.

“After being married to her and going on this journey with her, would I go through all of that again to get married to her?” Irons says in the film. “And the answer is a resounding and absolute yes. I would do all of that again to meet her and to marry her again. Because she is the love of my life.”

The story is equal parts beautiful, Valdez said, and tragic.

“It’s beautiful for Jonathan (in the end),” Valdez said. “It’s tragic to think how many other Jonathans there are.”

Valdez’s first documentary, “The Sentence,” chronicled his own sister’s wrongful conviction on drug charges in the 2000s. His background of telling a personal story about navigating the legal system made him an ideal fit for the project.

“It’s always bittersweet to tell these kinds of stories,” he said. “It’s also why we tell them.”

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maya Moore ESPN documentary 'Breakaway' follows Jonathan Irons story