# Crying Jordan > Crying Jordan is a 2015 photoshop meme featuring Michael Jordan's tearful face from his 2009 Hall of Fame induction, used to mock defeated athletes and teams. Crying Jordan is a photoshop meme built from a cutout image of Michael Jordan's tearful face during his 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech. Starting as a niche sports forum joke around 2012, it exploded into one of the internet's most recognizable memes by 2015-2016, used primarily to mock defeated athletes and teams. The meme became so widespread that Jordan himself acknowledged it, President Obama referenced it during a Medal of Freedom ceremony, and it spawned physical merchandise including custom sneakers. ## Origin The source photograph was taken by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia on September 11, 2009, during Jordan's Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech in Springfield, Massachusetts[3]. Throughout the speech, Jordan cried repeatedly while recounting stories from his career[2]. The image sat mostly untouched for a few years. On April 23, 2012, someone submitted an image macro titled "Sad Michael Jordan" to MemeCrunch, featuring the unedited crying photo with the caption "Why / Did I buy the Bobcats?"[2]. This was the first known meme use, riffing on Jordan's purchase of the then-struggling Charlotte Bobcats franchise. The photoshopped head-on-body format that defined the meme didn't appear until 2014. According to Wikipedia, posters on the internet message board Boxden.com first started cutting out Jordan's crying face and pasting it onto other people's heads[3]. On November 7, 2014, The Coli Forums member At30wecashout posted a collection of Crying Jordan examples[2]. - **Platform:** Twitter/Reddit - **Creator:** Stephan Savoia (photographer, Associated Press), Michael Jordan (subject) - **Date:** 2013 ## Overview The Crying Jordan meme uses a cropped image of Michael Jordan's face mid-cry, tears streaming down his cheeks, superimposed onto the heads of athletes, public figures, or anyone caught in an embarrassing loss or failure[2]. The cutout works because Jordan's expression is unmistakable: scrunched face, glistening tears, slightly open mouth. It's the ultimate image of defeat stamped onto the greatest basketball player who ever lived. The format is simple. Find someone or something that just took an L, paste Jordan's crying face on top, and post. The meme works across sports, politics, pop culture, and everyday life. Its power comes from the contrast between Jordan's legendary competitive dominance and the raw vulnerability of the crying image[3]. ## How It Spread The meme picked up speed in early 2015. On February 3, 2015, Nike Forums member Nelson999 started an "Official MJ cry GIF & Img thread"[2]. A month later, on March 4, the MJSadFaces Tumblr blog launched to curate the best examples[2]. By March 23, Complex published an article about the crying face images, and Vice Sports followed on March 27 with professional photographs featuring the superimposed face[2]. The fall of 2015 brought the meme into mainstream pop culture territory. On October 16, the Huffington Post released a printable life-size paper mask of Jordan's crying face, perfectly timed for Halloween[1]. The article described Jordan as someone "known on Sports Twitter as the basis of the Internet's funniest meme"[1]. January 2016 marked a turning point. On January 24, Jordan's own sons Marcus and Jeffrey tweeted their approval of the meme[2]. In February, TMZ reported that Jordan was aware of the meme and was fine with people using his image for fun, as long as it stayed non-commercial[2]. The Chicago Tribune corroborated this, citing a statement from Jordan's spokesperson Estee Portnoy[2]. Not everyone agreed about Jordan's feelings on the matter. In May 2016, TMZ interviewed former Bulls teammate Charles Oakley, who said flatly, "nah, he don't like it"[2]. That same month, rapper Ja Rule tweeted a theory that Jordan earned $1 every time someone posted a Crying Jordan meme, then quickly deleted the tweet[2]. Twitter users responded by photoshopping Jordan's crying face onto Ja Rule himself. Ja Rule took the roasting in stride, posting follow-up tweets making fun of himself[2]. Crying Jordan attracted mainstream media attention throughout late 2015 and early 2016, eventually becoming a globally used internet meme[3]. Media critics suggested its popularity stemmed partly from seeing "the ultimate alpha in a vulnerable position," with people "simultaneously mock[ing] and celebrate[ing] a masculine star who expresses vulnerability"[3]. ## How to Use The Crying Jordan format is straightforward: 1. Find a photo of someone (usually an athlete or public figure) who just experienced a loss, failure, or embarrassing moment 2. Cut out Jordan's crying face from the source image 3. Paste it over the person's head in the photo, roughly matching the head size 4. Post with context about the loss or failure ## Cultural Impact The meme's biggest mainstream moment came on November 22, 2016, when President Barack Obama awarded Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Obama introduced Jordan as "the guy from Space Jam" and directly referenced the Crying Jordan meme during the ceremony[2]. A photograph captured Jordan actually crying during Obama's speech, which triggered a new wave of Crying Jordan photoshops using that very image[2]. Athletes embraced the meme too. Draymond Green, Jordan Spieth, and Schoolboy Q have referenced it in interviews[3]. Players like Stephen Curry, Jon Jones, and Roberto Luongo used the image self-deprecatingly on social media after bad performances[3]. The meme inspired physical products. In mid-April 2016, artists Sherman Winfield and Andrew Weiss launched the "Crying Kicks" Tumblr blog, showcasing Air Jordan sneakers with the crying face embroidered on the tongue[2]. In March 2018, the meme surged again when Loyola-Chicago lost to Michigan in the Final Four. The team's 98-year-old chaplain, Sister Jean, had become a national sensation for her courtside cheering. After the loss, photoshops placing Jordan's crying face on Sister Jean flooded Twitter, with sportswriter Darren Rovell's version pulling over 4,700 retweets and 11,000 likes[2]. After Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals, a media producer bought the domain CryingJordan.com and set it to redirect to Chris Paul's profile page on the Phoenix Suns website after his team's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks[3]. The meme also lived on in community spaces. Facebook groups like "Crying Jordan Meme Fans" kept the format alive, and the image inspired similar meme faces including "Uncle Denzel," "Uncle Shay," and "Big Ern"[3]. ## Fun Facts - Jordan's sons Marcus and Jeffrey publicly loved the meme, tweeting their approval in January 2016[2]. - Obama called Jordan "the guy from Space Jam" before referencing the meme at the Medal of Freedom ceremony[2]. - During his eulogy for Kobe Bryant in February 2020, Jordan started crying and told the audience: "Now he's got me. 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"[3]. - Charles Oakley contradicted Jordan's spokesperson by telling TMZ that Jordan actually didn't like the meme[2]. - The original photo was taken on September 11, 2009, by AP photographer Stephan Savoia[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Crying Jordan? Crying Jordan is a photoshop meme using a cutout of Michael Jordan's tearful face from his 2009 Hall of Fame speech, pasted onto images of people who have experienced losses or failures[2]. ### Where did Crying Jordan come from? The source photo was taken by AP photographer Stephan Savoia during Jordan's Basketball Hall of Fame induction on September 11, 2009[3]. The first meme use appeared on MemeCrunch in April 2012, and the photoshop format took off from forums like Boxden.com in 2014[2]. ### What does Crying Jordan mean? The meme is used to convey defeat, disappointment, or humiliation. Placing Jordan's crying face on someone signals that the person just took a major loss[2]. ### How do you use Crying Jordan? Find a photo of someone who just lost or failed, cut out Jordan's crying face, and paste it over their head. Post it immediately after the loss for maximum impact. A free mobile app called "The Crying Jordan Meme Generator" also exists[3]. ### Is Crying Jordan still popular? The meme peaked between 2015 and 2018 but still surfaces during major sports events. It experienced notable revivals during the 2018 March Madness, the 2020 Kobe Bryant memorial, and the 2021 NBA Finals[2][3]. ### Does Michael Jordan like the meme? Jordan's spokesperson Estee Portnoy told the press in February 2016 that Jordan finds the meme funny, as long as it isn't used commercially[2]. However, former teammate Charles Oakley told TMZ "nah, he don't like it" in May 2016[2]. ### Who took the original Crying Jordan photo? Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia captured the image during Jordan's Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Springfield, Massachusetts[3]. ### Did Obama reference Crying Jordan? Yes. On November 22, 2016, while presenting Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Obama called him "the guy from Space Jam" and referenced the meme directly[2]. ### What did Jordan say at Kobe Bryant's memorial? While eulogizing Kobe in February 2020, Jordan began crying and joked: "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"[3]. ### What are Crying Kicks? Custom Air Jordan sneakers with the Crying Jordan face embroidered on the tongue, created by artists Sherman Winfield and Andrew Weiss in April 2016 and documented on a Tumblr blog called "Crying Kicks"[2]. ## References 1. [Here's A Cutout 'Michael Jordan Crying Face' Halloween Mask For You | HuffPost Sports]() 2. [Crying Jordan - Know Your Meme]() 3. [Crying Jordan]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/crying-jordan Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library