Referee Eric Lewis retires amidst NBA investigation of burner account

NBA referee Eric Lewis has informed the league office that he isretiring, effective immediately, in the midst of an NBAinvestigation.

In recent months, Lewis was being investigated for improper useof social media to discuss NBA officiating and defend calls made byhimself and other refs.

While the Twitter account used the name "Blair Cuttliff," theleague office was investigating whether Lewis was behind the tweetsand using this as a burner account.

There were also accusations of bias toward the BostonCeltics.

Referee Eric Lewis has today’sSixers/Celtics game. His family are huge Celtics fans and theCeltics have the highest win percentage of any team he refs🤔pic.twitter.com/fAFcSbawvO

"In light of his decision, the NBA’s investigation into [Lewis']social-media activity has been closed," the NBA announced in apress release.

Three months ago, the NBA announced that Lewis wasn't selectedas one of the 12 officials who would be working the 2023 NBAFinals. Lewis had worked the previous four NBA Finals.

Lewis was a veteran official of 19 seasons who had worked morethan 1,200 games in his officiating career.

The final game he officiated was on May 16, when the DenverNuggets played the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the WesternConference Finals.