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.”
After his quip, the internet celebrated Jordan’s moment of levity and acknowledgment of the meme:
Michael Jordan referencing the MJ crying meme is tremendous.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) 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
“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