Crying Jordan

The source photo was taken by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia during Jordan's speech at his Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on September 11, 2009.{{cite web |last1=Wagner |first1=Laura |title=The Evolution Of The Michael Jordan Crying Face Meme |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/31/472330783/the-evolution-of-the-michael-jordan-crying-face-meme |website=NPR |access-date=March 6, 2020 |date=March 31, 2016 |archive-date=February 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226134509/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/31/472330783/the-evolution-of-the-michael-jordan-crying-face-meme |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Petchesky |first=Barry |url=http://deadspin.com/how-crying-jordan-became-a-thing-1757298714 |title=How Crying Jordan Became A Thing |date=February 5, 2016 |website=Deadspin |access-date=April 7, 2016|archive-date=April 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405111054/http://deadspin.com/how-crying-jordan-became-a-thing-1757298714|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33699072/10-years-crying-jordan|title=10 years of Crying Jordan |date=April 12, 2022 }}

The image was used in 2012, without modification, to comment on Jordan's decision to buy the Charlotte Bobcats NBA franchise. The photoshopped head alone was first used in 2014 by posters on internet message board Boxden.com.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/2016/05/10/you-and-meme |title=You and Meme |date=May 16, 2016 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |access-date=May 16, 2016|archive-date=March 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315052113/http://www.si.com/vault/2016/05/10/you-and-meme|url-status=live}}

"Crying Jordan" began to attract mainstream media attention in late 2015 and early 2016 and would eventually become a globally used internet meme.{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/basketball-legend-surges-on-web-as-crying-jordan-1454531219?cb=logged0.1720610479824245 |title=Michael Jordan Surges on Web as 'Crying Jordan' |last1=Germano |first1=Sara |last2=Woo |first2=Stu |date=February 4, 2016 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=April 7, 2016|archive-date=December 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216100840/http://www.wsj.com/articles/basketball-legend-surges-on-web-as-crying-jordan-1454531219?cb=logged0.1720610479824245|url-status=live}}{{subscription required|s}}

After Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals, in which the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns to win the championship, a media producer purchased the domain CryingJordan.com and sent a re-direct to Chris Paul's profile page on the Phoenix Suns website.{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=Nate |url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/06/the-site-cryingjordan-com-now-redirects-to-the-cavaliers-webpage |title=The site cryingjordan.com now redirects to the Cavaliers webpage |date=June 15, 2016 |website=For The Win |publisher=USA Today|access-date=October 2, 2019|archive-date=October 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002215527/https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/06/the-site-cryingjordan-com-now-redirects-to-the-cavaliers-webpage|url-status=live}}

An open-source{{cite web |url=https://github.com/dokun1/jordan-meme-ios |title=Crying Jordan Meme Generator iOS Mobile App Source Code created by David Okun |date=February 19, 2016 |website=GitHub |access-date=February 19, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611151743/https://github.com/dokun1/jordan-meme-ios|url-status=live}} mobile app called "The Crying Jordan Meme Generator" allows users to easily add the Jordan image to other images, and has been downloaded by several thousand people.{{cite web |last=Hess |first=Amanda |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/arts/crying-jordan-the-meme-that-just-wont-die.html |title=Crying Jordan: The Meme That Just Won't Die |date=June 3, 2016 |website=The New York Times |access-date=June 3, 2016|url-access=limited|archive-date=February 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217053007/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/arts/crying-jordan-the-meme-that-just-wont-die.html|url-status=live}}

Media critics have suggested that the popularity of the meme stems in part because "[i]t's the ultimate alpha [male] in a vulnerable position", and that "people simultaneously mock and celebrate ... a masculine star who expresses vulnerability".

Outside the Internet world, the meme has been referenced in interviews by various athletes and public figures, such as basketball player Draymond Green, professional golfer Jordan Spieth,{{cite web |first=Emily |last=Kay |url=https://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/4/6/11373474/cyring-jordan-spieth-meme-masters-2016 |title=Jordan Spieth tries to dodge future 'Crying Jordan' meme |website=SB Nation |date=April 2, 2016 |access-date=April 7, 2016 |archive-date=July 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731112245/https://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/4/6/11373474/cyring-jordan-spieth-meme-masters-2016 |url-status=live}} and the rapper Schoolboy Q.{{cite web |last=Fleischer |first=Adam |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2893415/schoolboy-q-blank-face-album-cover-crying-michael-jordan-meme/ |title=Schoolboy Q Turned The Internet's Favorite Meme Into His Album Cover |website=MTV News |date=June 14, 2016 |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-date=June 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616061831/http://www.mtv.com/news/2893415/schoolboy-q-blank-face-album-cover-crying-michael-jordan-meme/ |url-status=dead}} Various athletes, like Steph Curry, Jon Jones and Roberto Luongo have also used the image self-deprecatingly on social media after struggling or failing in games, or having suffered some other misfortune.{{Cite news |last=Ducey |first=Kenny |url=https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/crying-michael-jordan-best-memes |title=The 23 best 'Crying Jordan' memes |date=February 17, 2016 |newspaper=Sports Illustrated|access-date=December 15, 2016|archive-date=November 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130150844/https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/crying-michael-jordan-best-memes|url-status=live}} Outside of sports, the image has also been used in combination with images of politicians like Barack Obama and Marco Rubio.

The meme was heavily used after North Carolina (Jordan's alma mater) lost to Villanova in the 2016 National Championship, during which Jordan was in attendance.{{Cite news |url=http://nesn.com/2016/04/michael-jordan-crying-memes-dominated-internet-after-villanova-buzzer-beater/ |title=Michael Jordan Crying Memes Dominate Internet After Villanova Buzzer-Beater |date=April 5, 2016 |newspaper=NESN |language=en-US|access-date=December 15, 2016|archive-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221104709/http://nesn.com/2016/04/michael-jordan-crying-memes-dominated-internet-after-villanova-buzzer-beater/|url-status=live}} On November 22, 2016, when awarding a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jordan, President Barack Obama joked that he was "more than just an internet meme".{{cite web |last=Strachan |first=Maxwell |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/michael-jordan-crying-obama-presidential-medal-of-freedom_n_58359e56e4b01ba68ac3a9cd |title=Michael Jordan held back tears at Medal of Freedom |website=HuffPost|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124091412/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-jordan-crying-obama-presidential-medal-of-freedom_us_58359e56e4b01ba68ac3a9cd |archive-date=November 24, 2016 |date=November 23, 2016 |access-date=November 23, 2016}} Jordan's spokesperson has told the press that Jordan himself finds the meme funny.

On February 24, 2020, Jordan eulogized the death of former Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant (whom Jordan was great friends with) and his daughter Gianna at an event held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. During the eulogy, Jordan began to cry and acknowledged—to great laughter— that this might give rise to another Crying Meme accordingly, stating: "Now he's got me [crying]. I'll have to look at another Crying Meme ... I told my wife I wasn't going to do this because I didn't want to see that for the next three or four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me."{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/02/24/michael-jordan-crying-jordan-meme-kobe-bryant/ |title=A weeping Michael Jordan brings down the house with 'Crying Jordan' joke at Kobe Bryant memorial |last=Allen |first=Scott |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en |access-date=March 10, 2020 |archive-date=February 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228070712/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/02/24/michael-jordan-crying-jordan-meme-kobe-bryant/ |url-status=live}}

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Category:Crying

Category:Cultural depictions of Michael Jordan

Category:Works about emotions

Category:Internet memes introduced in 2014

Category:2000s photographs

Category:Michael Jordan