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Crying Jordan

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The original Associated Press photograph
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Crying Jordan, also known as Crying MJ, Crying Michael Jordan, or Weepy J is an Internet meme in which an image of NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan crying is superimposed on images of athletes or others who have suffered various mishaps.

Creation and timeline

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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.[1][2][3]

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.[4]

"Crying Jordan" began to attract mainstream media attention in late 2015 and early 2016 and would eventually become a globally used internet meme.[5]

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.[6]

An open-source[7] 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.[4][8]

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",[4] and that "people simultaneously mock and celebrate ... a masculine star who expresses vulnerability".[8]

Usage

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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,[9] and the rapper Schoolboy Q.[10] 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.[4][11] Outside of sports, the image has also been used in combination with images of politicians like Barack Obama and Marco Rubio.[8]

Ties to Jordan

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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.[12] 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".[13] Jordan's spokesperson has told the press that Jordan himself finds the meme funny.[8]

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."[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wagner, Laura (March 31, 2016). "The Evolution Of The Michael Jordan Crying Face Meme". NPR. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Petchesky, Barry (February 5, 2016). "How Crying Jordan Became A Thing". Deadspin. Archived from the original on April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "10 years of Crying Jordan". April 12, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "You and Meme". Sports Illustrated. May 16, 2016. Archived from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  5. ^ Germano, Sara; Woo, Stu (February 4, 2016). "Michael Jordan Surges on Web as 'Crying Jordan'". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 16, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.(Subscription required.)
  6. ^ Scott, Nate (June 15, 2016). "The site cryingjordan.com now redirects to the Cavaliers webpage". For The Win. USA Today. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  7. ^ "Crying Jordan Meme Generator iOS Mobile App Source Code created by David Okun". GitHub. February 19, 2016. Archived from the original on June 11, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Hess, Amanda (June 3, 2016). "Crying Jordan: The Meme That Just Won't Die". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  9. ^ Kay, Emily (April 2, 2016). "Jordan Spieth tries to dodge future 'Crying Jordan' meme". SB Nation. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  10. ^ Fleischer, Adam (June 14, 2016). "Schoolboy Q Turned The Internet's Favorite Meme Into His Album Cover". MTV News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  11. ^ Ducey, Kenny (February 17, 2016). "The 23 best 'Crying Jordan' memes". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  12. ^ "Michael Jordan Crying Memes Dominate Internet After Villanova Buzzer-Beater". NESN. April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  13. ^ Strachan, Maxwell (November 23, 2016). "Michael Jordan held back tears at Medal of Freedom". HuffPost. Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  14. ^ Allen, Scott. "A weeping Michael Jordan brings down the house with 'Crying Jordan' joke at Kobe Bryant memorial". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
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