Referee suspended for attacking fans

In times of social media, not only athletes have to have thick skin and take a lot of criticism, but also referees. Everyone has to decide for themselves how best to deal with this. The way basketball referee Eric Lewis is doing doesn’t seem to be the right way. The 52-year-old allegedly countered the critics by attacking them on Twitter – under a false name.

The NBA is currently investigating the case after a Twitter user found the account and posted videos of it. It shows tweets in which the user defends Eric Lewis and his decisions under the name “Blair Cutliff”.

The fans of the Los Angeles Lakers, in particular, had shot down the referee and blamed him for the fact that the team around LeBron James and Anthony Davis had been eliminated in the semifinals with a 0:4 win against Denver. The supposed fake account Lewis wrote, for example: «Exactly, blame the referees for it. Fuck off, Denver was simply better.”

Shortly after the allegations became public, the user deleted this account, but activated it a few days later to deny the allegations. He is Mark Lewis, the older brother of the NBA referee. “I’m sorry I put Eric in this position.”

Lakers star LeBron James had meanwhile commented on the events. He asked on Twitter: “Is that Eric Lewis ???? true?”

It is not yet clear who is running the account, which Eric Lewis often defended. The accused has not yet commented. However, according to the US league, Lewis will definitely not be used in the NBA finals, which started on Friday night.

“We have decided that it would not be appropriate for him to work in these finals given the ongoing investigation,” Adam Silver said at a news conference. Referees working in the top basketball league in the world are prohibited from speaking publicly.

Lewis is in his 19th season as a referee and has been part of the crew in over 1000 games, making at least one appearance in every finals series since 2019. (no)

This might also interest you: