Omar the Basketball Referee Catching Ball

About

Omar the Basketball Referee Catching Ball, also known as Ref Catches Basketball, Referee Catching Ball, Ref Catching Basketball or You Alright Ladies? refers to a viral video of a basketball referee catching a basketball from going out of bounds, saving the people in the crowd behind him (including the cameraman) from getting hit. However, the video was perceived as cringe by many, evident in TikTok memes that asked, "Who does this ref think he is?" and "Are you alright ladies?" portraying that he over-dramatized the catch when pausing and looking directly into the camera. Prior to the viral video, the referee was already well-known in circles of Baltimore, Maryland-based hoopers. His name was Omar the Baltimore Ref. The original "Ref Catches Basketball" video surfaced in early 2023, trending in memes going into mid-2023.

Origin

Starting in 2022, TikTokers^[1][2] from Baltimore, Maryland started to post videos of a basketball referee known as Omar the Baltimore Ref. One video posted by TikToker^[1] @_lortinkyy on August 28th, 2022, proclaimed, "not from baltimore if y'all don't know bro," gaining roughly 123,000 plays and 15,400 likes in one year (shown below, left). On April 1st, 2023, TikToker^[3] @farrish_gang posted a video he'd taken of Omar catching a ball before it went out of bounds, pausing and looking directly into the camera. In the video, the TikToker asked, "Can I help you?" In four months, the video gained roughly 1.4 million plays and 326,600 likes (shown below, right).

Spread

On April 8th, 2023, the video was reposted by the TikTok^[4] account of House of Highlights where it gained roughly 4.8 million plays and 116,200 likes in four months. On May 23rd, 2023, TikToker^[5] @cartierthug posted a variation that added the caption, "ref acting like he caught a bullet," receiving roughly 170,700 plays and 11,900 likes in three months (shown below, left). On July 5th, 2023, TikToker^[6] @picklecheesebuns posted a lower-quality version with "you ladies alright" included in the caption, along wth a Don Pollo sound, gaining roughly 3 million plays and 513,900 likes in one month (shown below, right).

Going into July 2023, iterations surfaced that added more text overlay, making videos that were visually similar to Slang Overload images. For instance, on July 31st, 2023, TikToker^[7] @joehater1 posted a video with text, GIF and stickers covering everything, gaining roughly 359,700 plays and 25,300 likes in three days (shown below, left). Reenactments of the original video also surfaced in the same timeframe. For instance, TikToker^[8] @guapolukito posted one on August 2nd, 2023, gaining roughly 38,600 plays and 1,800 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Reposts of the TikTok memes surfaced elsewhere, such as on Instagram^[9] in July 2023.

Omar The Basketball Ref Death Rumor

On August 9th, 2023, a TikTok^[10] account called @vory (which claimed to be Omar the ref) posted a photo slideshow of a man in a hospital bed and a tombstone that read, R.I.P. Tyrone Johnson, said to be Omar's real name. The photos gained roughly 630,200 plays and 22,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References