Michael Jordan Jokes That Kobe Bryant Turned Him Into A Crying Meme Yet Again
NBA legend Michael Jordan managed to add some comic relief to his speech at the memorial ceremony for friend and fellow basketball great, Kobe Bryant, quipping that the loss of Bryant turned him back into his famous crying meme.
The 57-year-old spoke at the Staples Center service on Monday, sharing with the crowd some tender moments of friendship with Bryant, who tragically died last month in a helicopter crash.
As he spoke, tears poured down Jordan’s face.
“Now he got me, I’m gonna have to look at another crying meme,” he said to the crowd. “I told my wife I wasn’t gonna do this ’cause I don’t want to look at this for the next three or four years.”
"Now he's got me— I'm going to have to look at another crying meme." - Michael Jordan #KobeFarewell pic.twitter.com/OHnxIR2CRm
— Complex (@Complex) February 24, 2020
Jordan’s tear-strewn face has been in the internet culture canon since the early 2010s after images from a speech he gave during his Basketball Hall of Fame induction in Springfield, Massachusetts, ran rampant on meme sites, Tumblr and beyond.
After his quip, the internet celebrated Jordan’s moment of levity and acknowledgment of the meme:
This was everything in the room today. We’ve been crying for a month!!! We alllll needed this pure moment of levity. Thank you so much, MIchael Jordan! 🤣🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽#KobeFarewell #KobeandGianna #KobeForever pic.twitter.com/xJ02T2dHYv
— Holly Robinson Peete (@hollyrpeete) February 25, 2020
Michael Jordan referencing the MJ crying meme is tremendous.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 24, 2020
Michael Jordan acknowledging his crying meme is really a cultural moment. Look at us. 😂👏🏾👏🏾#FarewellKobe 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/fGIhpPibiM
— Lakeith Stanfield Stan Account (@PetrieVee) February 24, 2020
I’m dead y’all Michael Jordan crying as he giving his speech about Kobe, and then he gone stop and say “now Kobe got me out here about to be another meme” 😭😭😭😭. But whole time I was like damn MJ need some tissue, before he become a meme.
— Chardenae Hillman (@_OhGeeChar) February 24, 2020
MICHAEL JORDAN SAYING HE ABOUT TO BE A CRYING MEME AGAIN IS ICONIC CAUSE HE KNOWS LOOOOOOL 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️ #KobeFarewell pic.twitter.com/ybl3yX04h2
— ŁK 🥤 (@2wenty4s) February 24, 2020
"Now he's got me...you're gonna have to look at another crying meme..." Michael Jordan brings the house down with fond laughter. "That's what Kobe Bryant does to me. He knows how to get to you in the most personal way..." #KobeFarewell
— karenbates (@karenbates) February 24, 2020
Related...
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
