How did the Michael Jordan "Crying Jordan Meme" originate? Here are all the details

NBA legend Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. However, this hasn’t stopped the internet from having fun with him over the years. This includes countless memes, with the most notable being the iconic “Crying Jordan Meme”.

This meme originates from Jordan's 2009 acceptance speech while being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. During the speech, Jordan got emotional multiple times. However, one photo in particular of Jordan crying, taken by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia, went on to become an icon.

Jordan was undoubtedly a great player. Unfortunately, his post-retirement career as an NBA owner hasn’t gone so well. In 2012, Jordan’s formerly named Charlotte Bobcats had arguably the worst season of all time. They finished with a 7-59 record in the lockout-shortened season. Their 10.6% win percentage was the lowest in history.

After the Bobcats' dreadful season, the image of Jordan crying was submitted to the meme generator “MemeCrunch.” The original caption read, "Why did I buy the Bobcats?" and the meme was titled "Sad Jordan."

This led to a trend of similar memes being created which were all pooled together in a Tumblr account titled "Mjsadfaces". The meme continued to grow in popularity over the following years, spreading across social media and infiltrating the entire sports and pop culture world.

Today, the meme is still commonly used to represent disappointment, most notably after a sports team or player suffers a disappointing or embarrassing defeat.

Best uses of the Michael Jordan “Crying Jordan Meme”

Michael Jordan "Crying Meme."

The widespread popularity and creative variations of the Michael Jordan “Crying Jordan Meme” are equally impressive and hilarious.

Some of the funniest variations include people reacting in disappointment to losing the lottery.

The meme has also been used to mock players' bald spots.

There was the time NFL star Tom Brady lost his third straight playoff game to Peyton Manning.

It even extends to racing horses as well.

Even former U.S. President Barack Obama got in on the fun while presenting Jordan with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

The meme seems to have grown on Michael Jordan himself too. He even made a joke about it at the late NBA Legend Kobe Bryant’s memorial service in 2020.

Photographer Stephan Savoia, who took the iconic photo of Jordan crying, summarized the meme best though:

"I think that it's great that people can take things that happened to them in life. And add a moment to it that kind of makes it a little lighter. Somewhat humorous, and something we can all relate to."