Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Sep 29, 2025

Michael Jordan Wept For Kobe Bryant And Joked He'd Created A New Crying Meme

Michael Jordan Wept For Kobe Bryant And Joked He'd Created A New Crying Meme

"I told my wife I wasn't going to do this, because I didn't want to see this for the next three or four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me."
Michael Jordan openly wept as he remembered Kobe Bryant at a memorial service Monday, and then lightened the mood by joking that he was going to have to look at another "Crying Jordan" meme as a result.

"I told my wife I wasn't going to do this, because I didn't want to see this for the next three or four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me," Jordan said to laughs at a packed Staples Center. "He knows how to get to you in a way that affects you personally ... even if he’s being a pain in the ass."

Jordan was one of several speakers at the memorial for Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who died in a helicopter crash last month along with seven other people. Thousands attended the memorial at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team Kobe played with for the entirety of his 20-year NBA career.

Jordan made a reference to the meme of his face, red-eyed with tears streaming down his cheeks, from his 2009 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He also spoke with emotion, describing their decadeslong friendship and how he thought of Bryant as a "little brother."

The two played against each other in the late 1990s and early 2000s before Jordan retired. They are often compared in debates about who was the greatest basketball player in NBA history.

"Maybe it surprised people that Kobe and I were very close friends, but we were very close friends," Jordan said. "Everyone always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I. I just wanted to talk about Kobe."

Jordan talked about how Bryant, like younger siblings who "for whatever reason always tend to get into your stuff," would often text and call him at odd hours of the night.

"It was a nuisance," Jordan said. "But that nuisance turned into love over a period of time just because the admiration that they had for you as big brothers or big sisters, the questions, the wanting to know every little detail about the life they were about to embark on."

He said that as he came to know Bryant more, he wanted to be "the best big brother that [he] could be."

"When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died," he said. "I will live with the memories of knowing that I had a little brother that I tried to help in every way I could."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
×