The meme originated on TikTok from user @farrish_gang, featuring a basketball ref catching a ball in front of a group, turning around as if he had saved them (https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM6k4rjPS/).

It quickly spread with captions like "you ladies alright" or "just doing my job" on TikTok and later gained traction on Instagram where it was edited into several other memes. @shneeby's edit received over 140k likes (https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cvfr6w6KEFR/?igsh=NTYzOWQzNmJjMA==).

Omar, the ref unknown for awhile, gained recognition after creating the TikTok account @theofficialomartheref, amassing 2.2 million followers.