The NBA has closed its investigation into Eric Lewis' alleged social media activity after the veteran referee decided to retire effective immediately, the league announced on Wednesday.
"NBA referee Eric Lewis has informed the league office that he is retiring, effective immediately," a statement from the NBA said. "In light of his decision, the NBA's investigation into social media activity has been closed."
In May, the NBA opened an investigation into whether Lewis violated league rules by discussing officiating in an unauthorized matter via a burner account on X, formerly known as Twitter. The probe came after multiple X users highlighted an account with the username "blair cuttliff" that was defending Lewis and other officials in some since-deleted posts. It's unclear whether Lewis was actually operating the account.
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Lewis last worked Game 1 of the 2023 Western Conference finals, a week before the social media posts came to light. He was not among the 12 refs selected to work the NBA Finals amid the ongoing investigation.
Lewis, 52, refereed more than 1,000 games, including six Finals contests, over his 19 years an NBA official.
