--- title: Crying LeBron Meme Could Be New Crying Jordan: NBA Game 7 description: When LeBron burst into tears after delivering his long-promised first NBA championship to Cleveland, the Internet wasted no time in making memes. canonical: https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-20T18:15:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:29:11.740Z og:title: Is 'Crying LeBron' The New 'Crying Jordan?' og:description: Cue the memes. og:url: https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d4f4a0e6ed12c57/69889893524fc0a618df86ff/crying-lebron-crying-jordan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 2016 NBA Finals - Game Seven og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Is 'Crying LeBron' The New 'Crying Jordan?' twitter:description: Cue the memes. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d4f4a0e6ed12c57/69889893524fc0a618df86ff/crying-lebron-crying-jordan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Is 'Crying LeBron' The Next 'Crying Jordan?' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=4c75c672-6e1e-4556-bdf0-df1365954126&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: LeBron James fulfills mission, leads Cavaliers to first NBA title [Watch (HLS stream): LeBron James fulfills mission, leads Cavaliers to first NBA title](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UdZFi6YD.m3u8) (1:16)  _Published 2016-06-20. Behind a triple-double from LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed their first NBA title, outlasting the Golden State Warriors in Game 7._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 20, 2016 6:15 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jun 20, 2016 6:15 PM UTC When [LeBron James](http://time.com/4367467/nba-draymond-green-suspension/) burst into tears [after delivering the long-promised NBA championship to Cleveland](http://time.com/4374422/cleveland-cavaliers-golden-state-warriors-lebron-james-nba-game-7-basketball/?xid=tcoshare) during Game 7 of the 2016 playoffs series, the web wasted no time turning the emotional moment into a meme. King James might have been crowned the series MVP, but the real MVP was definitely the Internet, who made it their sole goal to try to replace [the ubiquitous “Crying Jordan” meme](http://time.com/4370638/crying-jordan-site-redirects-cleveland-cavaliers/) with “Crying LeBron.” Will “Crying LeBron” be the next “Crying Jordan?” If the online offerings are any indication, it just might be. See the best of what the Internet had to offer below. > [](https://twitter.com/ad%5Fwilson/status/744727411288379392) It was only natural that “Crying LeBron” would come for league MVP [Steph Curry](http://time.com/4301269/stephen-curry-2016-time-100/). > [](https://twitter.com/haydensmartt/status/744902358455320576) The Internet was quick to move from “Crying Jordan” to “Crying LeBron.” > [](https://twitter.com/RamblinGrimace/status/744897026588966913) Of course Skip Bayless got a “Crying LeBron” treatment. > [](https://twitter.com/SamTFarley/status/744821072764100609) | Others merged the worlds of the NBA with _Game of Thrones_ in a truly epic meme. | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ APPLAUSE ] I set out a goal so here's, when I came back, to bring a championship to this city, I gave everything that I had. I put my heart, my blood, my sweat, my tears to this day, man. Lebron James did what he set out to do, bringing Cleveland its first championship in 52 years. In winning their franchise title, the Cavaliers pulled off the unthinkable, becoming the first team in NBA history to come all the way back from a 3- 1 deficit in the finals. Lebron picked up his third career final's MVP after a superhuman series In which he averaged nearly a triple double . >> Draymond Green almost matched James in Game 7. Coming up just one assist shy of a triple double himself while chipping in 6- 3. But that effort was not enough and Sunday marked the Warriors ninth loss this postseason after they were handed just nine ells in their historic regular season As for Lebron, this is his third title. Making him just one of four players to win three titles and four MVPs, joining Michael Jordan, Bill Russel, and Kareem Abdul Jabar. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/"},"headline":"Is 'Crying LeBron' The Next 'Crying Jordan?'","datePublished":"2016-06-20T18:15:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-06T09:29:11.740Z","description":"Cue the memes.","url":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Sports topic","Lebron James","memes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d4f4a0e6ed12c57/69889893524fc0a618df86ff/crying-lebron-crying-jordan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d4f4a0e6ed12c57/69889893524fc0a618df86ff/crying-lebron-crying-jordan.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 NBA Finals - Game Seven","caption":"2016 NBA Finals - Game Seven","creditText":"Ezra Shaw—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/","name":"Is 'Crying LeBron' The Next 'Crying Jordan?'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"LeBron James fulfills mission, leads Cavaliers to first NBA title","description":"Behind a triple-double from LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed their first NBA title, outlasting the Golden State Warriors in Game 7.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UdZFi6YD/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-06-20T11:56:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UdZFi6YD.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/","duration":"PT1M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4375049/crying-lebron-jordan-game-7/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```