Longtime NBA Ref Eric Lewis "Retires" After The Internet Discovered His Burner Account During The 2023 Playoffs

Steven Ryan. Getty Images.

During the ECF, the NBA Twitter was buzzing because it appeared that the internet had discovered another burner account situation, this time revolving around longtime ref Eric Lewis.

I may not know much about the burner account game, but I feel like it's Day 1 stuff that the only accounts you're following probably shouldn't be the NBA and a few NBA ref accounts if you yourself are a current NBA ref operating a burner. I dunno, that feels like maybe you were just waiting to be found. 

On some level, I can understand why a ref might have a burner. All the internet does on a daily basis is talk about how bad NBA refs are at their job and how it's a huge problem in the league, so why wouldn't you expect someone to take matters into their own hands and stand up for themselves? Plus, having a burner in the NBA is what's cool in the streets these days. Everyone from the best players to front office executives have them, so why wouldn't a ref? 

Once the NBA caught wind of this burner they suspended Eric Lewis from working the NBA Finals, and we learned today that he's now "retiring" because of his burners

Advertisement

First it was Bryan Colangelo and now Eric Lewis who were ultimately brought down by their burners. That's tough. Not that anyone doubted it was really him when this story first broke, but this essentially confirms it. The league may say "retire" but we all know that's them doing a long-time ref a favor. Lewis first became a ref back in 2005, and worked a total of 1,098 games with 82 playoff games and 6 Finals games. He was one of the main guys who the league routinely tapped to work their biggest games.

For those who may be wondering why anyone would give a shit about this burner, NBA refs are not allowed to comment publicly on any officiating matter without league approval. So you can understand why a ref hopping on Twitter to comment publicly on several officiating matters clearly goes against that rule. There's a reason he made a fake account to do it, because he probably knew they weren't allowed to do it.

As with most burners, no matter if you're an athlete, front office executive, Barstool Commentor, blogger, etc, sooner or later you're burner is going to get exposed. It's really only a matter of time. My question to Eric Lewis would be if he feels it was even worth it? I mean nobody has given one second of thought about changing how they think about NBA refs, the burner didn't really accomplish anything, and now he's forced to take an early "retirement". My guess is he probably regrets it, as most people not named Kevin Durant do when this stuff pops up.

Now I want to know who else in the league has one because you KNOW there are more out there. Is Scott Foster lurking out there, responding to every tweet that talk about how he's fixing a game? What I do know is if they are out there, the internet will come through and expose them too. If those people were smart they'd get ahead of it and just delete it now, but we know that's not going to happen.