# Laughing Michael Jordan

> A reaction from episode 8 of The Last Dance became a reusable Twitter meme.

- Owner: null
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Sports
- Seed date: 2020-05-11
- Peak date: 2020-05-11
- Spread Score: 47 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Remixable template, Creator relay, Platform jump, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

Jordan laughed at Payton in episode 8 of The Last Dance. Twitter users recaptioned the reaction, and Reddit users shared a GIF. Press collected the derivatives; a YouTube montage and a rap reference followed.

## Timeline

- 2020-03-31 — ESPN (Press) — ESPN announced the U.S. broadcast schedule for The Last Dance.
- 2020-04-16 — Vanity Fair (Press) — Vanity Fair previewed Jordan laughing at Gary Payton's interview in The Last Dance.
- 2020-05-11 — ESPN (TV) — ESPN aired episode 8; its Nielsen report put the U.S. premiere audience at 4.9 million.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/laughing-michael-jordan

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Laughing Michael Jordan.” Case HIS-00264. Spread Score v1.2: 47/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00264