EGOT-winning singer/actor Jennifer Hudson narrowly missed being hit square in the face by a basketball while watching Tuesday's New York Knicks playoff game against the Golden State Warriors from courtside seats.
Fortunately, her beau sitting beside her, rapper Common, diverted the ball's trajectory away from Hudson's face in the nick of time, her glasses taking most of the hit after Knicks’ point guard Miles McBride lost control of the ball.
"Protect Jennifer Hudson," a commentator was heard saying afterward and remarking, “Oh no, not the glasses!”
A bewildered Hudson appeared fine and hung her black-framed spectacles on her shirt's neckline as another announcer commented, “Those look real expensive, too.”
It was a close call, as you can see in the viral video here.
Fans applauded Common's heroic play.
The hazard of sitting in courtside seats served as a confirmation that watching basketball games from a distance might be best.
The American Idol alum and the "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" rapper began dating in 2022 while they worked together on the sci-fi film Breathe.
The pair announced they were official on her eponymous The Jennifer Hudson Show in January 2024.
When Hudson jokingly asked her man if he was dating anyone during their joint appearance on the show, he coyly replied:
"I'm in a relationship that is with one of the most beautiful people I've met in life. She's smart, she loves God, she has something real down to earth about her. She's talented."
While he didn't mention Hudson by name, Common mentioned her accomplishments.
"I set my standard kind of high," he continued, adding:
"She had to have an EGOT. She had to win an Oscar on her first movie. She had to get her own talk show."
In 2022, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African American to win all four major industry awards, which include Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.
Regarding the couple's future, Common said of Hudson during a July 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club:
“If I’m going to get married, it’s to her."
"This is definitely—with all due respect to all the women I've dated ‘cause it’s all love—but this is a really healthy and beautiful relationship."
"When you're with somebody who's from where you're from, it's a different kind of connection, too.”
While McBride's rogue basketball never stood a chance, this romance sounds like it's a slam dunk.
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