When Auburn basketball's Johni Broome slapped the hand of a fan who was grabbing his jersey mid-game, he didn't expect to turn around and see one of the world's most iconic actors. Yet, that's exactly what happened.
During the second half of the Auburn Tigers' 91-77 victory against Ole Miss on Saturday night, Broome nearly tumbled into the Ole Miss stadium's courtside seats after trying to save a ball from going out of bounds, prompting a fan to grab his jersey.
Johni Broome thinks a fan is trying to grab him, smacks their hand away, then realizes it's Morgan Freeman ??? pic.twitter.com/7buLKBdZo6
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 4, 2024
Broome — thinking it was a typical Ole Miss fan trying to irk him — slapped the hand away. After doing so, he turned around to check who the fan was — and saw Morgan Freeman staring back at him.
The Auburn standout appeared to apologize right away, and the two exchanged a few reconciliatory words. Then Broome — who finished the win with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists — walked back to Auburn's bench.
Broome recalled the hilarious interaction during a postgame press conference. "I thought it was an Ole Miss fan, just grabbing my jersey, like holding on to me," he said. "And I kind of just got their hand off. But then I saw who it was, and I'm like a big movie guy, I probably watched one of [Freeman's] movies on the plane coming here.
"But when I saw it was him," Broome continued, "I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm a big fan, I'm sorry.' And he just said, 'Just keep playing.' And I came back out there again and I was like, 'I'm sorry again,' and he's like, 'You're all good, just keep playing.' Very good guy. Love him."
While it might seem random that Freeman was attending an Ole Miss basketball game, the 86-year-old Oscar-winning actor grew up about an hour away from Oxford, Mississippi, where Ole Miss' campus is located.
Therefore, Freeman has been a Rebels fan for most of his life and often can be seen sitting courtside at Ole Miss basketball games.
So despite Freeman being all smiles after the slapping exchange with Broome, perhaps his jersey grab was indeed a last-ditch effort to irk the Auburn star after all.
However, it clearly didn't work.
