Michael Jordan has become known for being an online meme over the last several years, and he helped launch yet another one on Sunday night.
During episode 8 of “The Last Dance” documentary on ESPN, Jordan’s reaction to watching a Gary Payton quote went viral.
The documentary was covering the 1996 NBA Finals in which Jordan’s Chicago Bulls beat Payton’s Seattle SuperSonics. Seattle began the series without having Payton guard Jordan in an effort to keep Payton fresher on offense. After the team fell behind 3-0 in the series, Payton demanded to guard Jordan, and Seattle won two in a row before losing in six.
“A lot of people backed down to Mike. I didn’t,” Payton said in an interview that aired in the documentary. “I made it a point – I said, ‘just tire him out. You just gotta tire him out.’ I kept hitting him and banging him, hitting him and banging him. It took a toll on Mike. And then the series changed. I wished I could have done it earlier. I don’t know if the outcome would have been different, but it was different …”
The producers of the documentary showed Jordan footage of Payton’s interview and shared MJ’s priceless reaction.
Gif pic.twitter.com/8om0gwcond
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) May 11, 2020
“I had no problem with ‘The Glove.’ I had no problem with Gary Payton. I had a lot of other things on my mind,” Jordan said.
People online loved MJ’s reaction and turned it into an immediate meme. Take a look:
Meme God pic.twitter.com/aoShrn0pqe
— Jarrel (@_JarrelHarris) May 11, 2020
New meme alert pic.twitter.com/vBpcIlxFUl
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) May 11, 2020
“This is it, you’re going to retire Michael Jordan” –@ReggieMillerTNT. pic.twitter.com/Tqi4ZVCzcm
— Chris Bennett (CB) (@chrisgb002000) May 11, 2020
Michael Jordan watching Gary Payton talking about how tough he played MJ is my new favorite thing ever. pic.twitter.com/g309YxiUjC
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 11, 2020
That reaction was fantastic. As for the other meme, well, you know it all too well.
