It's a fairy-tale ending of sorts for Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons.

The WNBA star and the man she successfully fought to free from prison after a wrongful conviction announced Wednesday that they were recently married.

"Over the last 13 years we have just developed a friendship and just entered into this huge battle to get him home, and just over time it was pretty clear what the Lord was doing in our hearts and now we're sitting here today, starting a whole new chapter together," Moore told Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America."

Moore, a star for the Minnesota Lynx, sat out the last two WNBA seasons to focus on criminal justice reform. That included advocating for Irons, who was convicted of burglary and assault at age 18 and sentenced to 50 years in prison. In March, a Missouri judge vacated Irons' conviction, citing key evidence that was withheld from his lawyers.

"I wanted to marry her but at the same time protect her because being in a relationship with a man in prison, it's extremely difficult and painful," the 40-year-old Irons said Wednesday. "And I didn't want her to feel trapped and I wanted her to feel open and have the ability any time if this is too much for you, go and find somebody. Live your life. Because this is hard."