Michael Jordan spoke at the Los Angeles memorial for Kobe and Gianna Bryant on Monday, and in doing so, possibly gently retired the Crying Jordan meme that has been popular on the internet for years.  Retired Los Angeles Lakers star Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, and seven others died on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. 

Jordan took the stage at the live-streamed memorial event right after Alicia Keys performed Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata -- a song Bryant taught himself to play on the piano for his wife, Vanessa -- and tearily immediately referenced the meme.

"Now he's got me," Jordan said. "I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next … I told my wife I wasn't going to (cry), because I didn't want to see that for the next three to four years. That is what Kobe Bryant does to me!" 

Crying Jordan is the popular name given to a much-shared photo of the NBA legend crying at his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2011. The photo has since been reused, captioned and altered thousands of times, turning into a meme that's hard to escape on Twitter.

After Jordan's heartfelt acknowledgement of the meme, many social-media users felt that use of the image should end.

"No more Crying Jordan memes," wrote sports anchor Carson Cunningham. "They are over with. MJ is giving a tremendous, heartfelt eulogy to Kobe & Gianna."

Wrote another, "I watched Vanessa Bryant's memorial speech about GiGi and I was holding it together until I saw Jordan. Crying Jordan meme is cancelled."