The meme 'And I Took That Personally' features an image of basketball icon Michael Jordan with a serious expression, uttering the phrase 'And I took that personally.' This template is often paired with captions that highlight trivial grievances or slights, humorously suggesting a deep personal offense similar to Jordan's intense competitive nature as depicted in the meme.
The phrase originates from the ESPN documentary 'The Last Dance,' which chronicles the journey of the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls. In the documentary, Michael Jordan discusses various instances throughout the season that he perceived as personal challenges, which subsequently fueled his performance on the court. Although the specific phrase 'And I took that personally' is not verbally expressed by Jordan in the film, the sentiment matches his reflections shared throughout the documentary. The popularity of this concept was amplified when YouTuber DoubleDuck posted a video on June 8th, 2020, compiling instances from the documentary where Jordan felt personally challenged. The image associated with this meme, however, gained significant traction following a post on Twitter (now X) on May 17th, 2020, by user @OGMelo_, where he humorously alluded to the abundance of personal grievances Jordan mentioned in the series.[1]
Origin: 2020