The origin
A press photograph of Michael Jordan crying during his Basketball Hall of Fame speech was cut out and reused.
How it spread
It was superimposed on losing athletes, teams and eventually anyone who had suffered any setback at all.
What it means
Ritual mockery of defeat. Its reach made it a kind of scoreboard of its own.
Follow the source
Short editorial summary written by Random Access Memes from the sources above; the wording is ours, not theirs. Every link was checked for a live response on September 13, 2026.
