Michael Jordan: The GOAT of All Memes 😱 😭

Exactly 14 years ago, Michael Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, and it's a day that we all remember, but maybe not for the reason that we expected, right? Because it's the day that photo was taken, and it became, of course, the crying Jordan meme. And you can debate your NBA GOAT, but what you cannot debate is the GOAT of NBA memes. And ESPN senior writer David Fleming has more. April 23, 2012. A day that would change sports culture forever. A legend was born. He's more than just a logo, more than just an internet 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. The sports world and memetic communication would never be the same. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jordan. The GOAT of all memes all began when the GOAT himself was being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. I told all my friends I was going to come up here and say thank you and walk off. I can't. The Hall of Fame podium, in a rare moment of reflection, Jordan lost control of his emotion. Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Stephan Zavoya snapped this photo of the legend sobbing. Thank you. Here's that zone. Here's that channel. Bobcats are all kinds of trouble. But Jordan wouldn't experience true sorrow until a few years later. Oh, missed that one too! When he became the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Franchise has been through a lot this year. At the end of the 2011-2012 season. Bobcats turned it over 23 times. Jordan's Bobcats were in danger of becoming the worst team in NBA history. The outcome is certain. The Bobcats are going to lose their 20th straight. They're going to fall to 7 and 56. One day after the Bobcats blowout loss to the Kings. The picture that photographer Stephan Zavoya took of Michael Jordan crying at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Was anonymously posted to the website meme crunch.com. With the simple caption. Why did I buy the Bobcats? Crying Jordan was born. The meme would sit on the site mostly unnoticed for the next few years. Until the 2016 AFC Championship game. When the internet needed some clever way. The Bobcats are going to Super Bowl 50. To make fun of Tom Brady. Today, a decade later. The crying Jordan meme is still being used across the globe. By several different generations. To express every part of the human condition. From sadness. To sarcasm. To frustration. And utter befuddling. Jordan crying has made it as a cut out here. Crying Jordan shows no sign of slowing down. In other words. The only thing in the world. That can't be crying Jordan. Is crying Jordan itself. Thanks for watching ESPN on YouTube. For live streaming sports and premium content. Subscribe to ESPN+.