“Breakaway,” the documentary about WNBA superstar and activist Maya Moore, will debut as the next installment in the Peabody and Emmy award-winning 30 for 30 series on July 13 on ESPN.
Directed by Rudy Valdez, the documentary explores the story of Moore, who was one of the best basketball players in the world when she stepped away from the sport for a remarkable reason: to fight for a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned. In 2019, after four WNBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, a WNBA MVP award, three All-Star MVPs, and a scoring title, Moore decided to take a sabbatical from basketball at the age of 29 to devote herself full-time to working for the release of a man named Jonathan Irons, who was wrongly convicted of burglary and assault and sentenced to 50 years in prison. “Breakaway” chronicles a search for justice, and a relationship that changed the lives of two people forever. Valdez’s previous film, “The Sentence”, winner of the US Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Primetime Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, explored similar themes about the criminal justice system.
“I wanted to make this film not only to honor and celebrate the incredible criminal justice reform advocacy that Maya has been working toward with Jonathan Irons, but also to tell a very human story that is often told inhumanely,” said director Rudy Valdez. “I hope the film sheds light on how society demonizes both those behind bars and those connected at home and inspires people to find inner strength and fight against a system that does not want us to win.”
“Breakaway” will premiere on July 13 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Watch the official trailer for Breakaway