In 2009, Michael Jordan gave his Hall of Fame enshrinement speech. But he also unknowingly gifted the world a meme that would delight and sadden many for years to come. The Crying MJ meme was born when the NBA’s greatest player of all-time broke down and sobbed during his speech.
The meme of the basketball legend with tears streaming down his face didn’t really traction until last September, you can see on Google Trends exactly when the “Crying Jordan” skyrocketed in popularity.
The Crying MJ meme became so viral that in the last few weeks there was talk about Jordan’s brand suing anyone who used it, but thankfully the lawyers did not lawyer. “At this time, we have taken no legal action,” a Jordan spokesperson said.
Now the extremely contagious meme has its own documentary. The fine folks over at STASHED went to NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto and asked players of their opinion of the trendy pic. Stars such as Russell Westbrook, Jimmy Butler, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Kristaps Porzingis, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowery were asked about their opinions of Crying MJ.
Some players immediately cracked up when they saw it, like John Wall, Dwyane Wade, Kyle Lowry and James Harden. Meanwhile, others like Kawhi Leonard were completely confused and oblivious to the viral meme. Someone give Leonard a Crying MJ for not knowing about the Crying MJ.