The "Crying Jordan" meme will never die ... at least it won't for this dedicated Michael Jordan fan, who got an insanely realistic thigh tattoo of the viral pic!!
TMZ Sports spoke with the artist behind the work, Steve Butcher -- who's known for his unreal sports-themed tattoos --- who says the whole thing took about 10 hours to complete.
Butcher says the person is a MASSIVE Chicago Bulls fan ... and the dude is planning on getting the whole leg inked with Bulls tats.
You've probably seen Butcher's work before ... he worked on a dope Tupac piece for Matt Barnes back in June.
We're told the fan was totally thrilled with the finished product ... and we're assuming it had him crying tears of joy.