NBA Appears to Find Some Merit in Bizarre Referee Burner Account Conspiracy
By Liam McKeone

Earlier this week, a weird little conspiracy theory began to make its way around NBA Twitter. Eric Lewis, a referee in the league for 18 years now, was accused of having a burner account used only to defend himself and his calls. Here is the evidence presented in favor of that it's actually Lewis behind the account "blair cutliff."
NBA ref Eric Lewis has been outed as having a burner account (@CuttliffBlair). Lmaooo this is a momentous day. The account will surely be deleted soon so for the archives, the entirety of the account’s replies. All involving… yep, Eric Lewis. 😂
— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) May 25, 2023
(h/t @Mikey_Wyllin) thread 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6GTvURouOc
It's compelling evidence. But those who have been around the block a few times know to be skeptical. There have been numerous false alarms on this front after the epic Bryan Colangelo saga from a few years back. Everyone wants to be the next person to pull back the curtain on a famous person running an anonymous account, unveiling a grand conspiracy that alters the landscape like The Ringer did. Even with how it looks, it still felt more likely that it was a big ol' coincidence rather than an NBA ref actually having a burner used only to lash back at fans eager to criticize from the couch.
But it seems the NBA itself feels the evidence has some merit. Marc Stein reported on Friday that the league was investigating.
The NBA, I'm told, has opened an official review into Twitter activity unearthed this week with frequent mentions of veteran referee Eric Lewis.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 26, 2023
More NBA from me: https://t.co/A6ycVmnrjq
Well, well! There might be fire with this smoke. Interestingly this news broke after the account in question tweeted out that it was actually run by Eric's brother, Mark.
Pablo,
— blair cuttliff (@CuttliffBlair) May 26, 2023
This is MARK Lewis. Right family (older brother).
I'm sorry that I put E, in this situation, but this ain't Watergate. You're right, the account WILL be coming down. Twitter should not be this vindictive.
Sorry to inconvenience you.
Is it the truth or one last desperate attempt to deflect? The NBA will have to be the ones to tell us.