- The NBA world mourned the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi at the Staples Center on Monday.
- Celebrities from Los Angeles and superstars from around the NBA gathered to pay their respects to Bryant and share stories of their time with him.
- During his time at the podium, Michael Jordan provided the crowd with a much-needed moment of levity, joking that he would once again become a meme as "Crying Jordan" after tearing up on stage.
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The NBA world gathered at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant on Monday.
While the gathering was a somber one, there were moments of levity, with former teammates sharing fond memories of the Lakers superstar and former rivals paying their respects to Bryant one last time.
Michael Jordan offered a touching eulogy for Bryant. "Kobe left nothing in the tank. He left it all on the floor," Jordan said.
"Kobe was my dear friend; he was like my little brother," Jordan said. "Everybody always wanted to talk about the comparisons between he and I. I just wanted to talk about Kobe."
At one point, Jordan teared up and provided a much-needed moment of levity in the midst of some somber circumstances, referencing the "Crying Jordan" meme that was inescapable for years.
"Now he's got me — I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next," Jordan said with tears streaming down his face before getting cut off by laughs and applause. "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 provides some comic relief at the #KobeFarewell by bringing up his crying meme. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/7kAo7UxqPZ
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) February 24, 2020
You can watch Jordan's whole speech below.
“As I got to know him, I wanted to be the best big brother that I could be.”
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 24, 2020
Michael Jordan on Kobe Bryant. pic.twitter.com/dTSp7VDosP
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