The NBA has opened an investigation into longtime referee Eric Lewis involving a Twitter account that responded to quite a few posts on league officiating and defended Lewis and different NBA referees, league sources confirmed to ESPN.
The account in query, which has since been deleted, was listed beneath a person identify “Blair Cuttliff” with the deal with @CuttliffBlair.
At potential problem is a league rule towards referees commenting on officiating publicly with out authorization. If it may be confirmed Lewis was making such statements, it’s doable he may face self-discipline.
Lewis, who’s in his nineteenth season as a referee, has officiated greater than 1,100 video games and 82 playoff video games. Lately, he is been one of many NBA’s highest-rated officers as he is been assigned to 6 Finals video games since 2019. He final labored Sport 1 of the Western Convention finals between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers on Could 16.
Burner accounts have been a problem within the NBA up to now. In 2018, Philadelphia 76ers common supervisor Bryan Colangelo resigned when he and is spouse have been linked to burner accounts that criticized among the workforce’s gamers. In 2020, then Golden State Warriors star Kevin Durant admitted that had used a number of burner accounts to work together with followers who criticized him or his workforce.
NBA reporter Marc Stein first reported the league had opened an investigation into Lewis.