There’s something about the NBA when it comes to burner accounts, man. No idea what it is, but everyone seems to have one.
Kevin Durant had multiple burner accounts as an NBA superstar. He probably still does. Jerry Colangelo’s wife — allegedly — also had a burner account where she defended the former 76ers executive.
NBA referee Eric Lewis is the latest to spark chatter that he might have his own burner account.
Fans somehow stumbled upon this mysterious Twitter account that, for whatever reason, always defends NBA officials — mostly Eric Lewis.
The account — @CuttliffBlair — which as of this morning has deleted all of its tweets but still has a long list of liked tweets tied to Lewis — doesn’t seem to tweet about anything else besides Lewis.
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. 😂
(h/t @Mikey_Wyllin) thread 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6GTvURouOc
— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) May 25, 2023
As things went further and further, the situation got funnier.
Wait, exactly who is Eric Lewis again?
Eric Lewis is an NBA referee who has officiated nearly 1,100 NBA games in 18 years. He’s also officiated 82 playoff games, according to his profile, including six games in the NBA Finals.
So, obviously, Lewis is a very well-established referee in the NBA. You’ve got to have a great reputation to not only last this long, but also officiate NBA Finals games. His resume is impressive.
So we think he has a burner account?
Well, NBA fans seem to think so. This @CuttliffBlair account literally only tweeted in defense of Eric Lewis. There’s an entire Twitter thread dedicated to it.
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. 😂
(h/t @Mikey_Wyllin) thread 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6GTvURouOc
— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) May 25, 2023
The person behind the account spends their time arguing with people who rail against calls made in games that Lewis has officiated.
In particular, the account argues with Lakers fans quite a bit — mostly because Lewis just officiated in the Nuggets-Lakers sweep.
Replies continued… pic.twitter.com/Xe0Niu8U52
— Pablo Escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) May 25, 2023
So is this actually Lewis' account?
Well, truthfully, we don’t actually know. Whoever does run the account claimed to be Eric’s brother, Mark Lewis, after fans started investigating.
So maybe it’s Eric. Maybe it’s Mark. Maybe it’s someone else. We truthfully have no idea. All we know is that this account exists.
Will this be a problem?
I’m honestly not sure if the NBA will do anything about this, but it doesn’t strike me as one of those moments where we need a big investigation behind it.
There’s not really anything nefarious going on here. Whoever runs this account is simply defending Lewis’ calls. The person isn’t rooting for a particular team or defending a particular player, so there’s no real show of preferential treatment for anyone outside of Lewis.
To be honest, this is just kind of funny. And it further cements the NBA as the National Burner Association.
Tweet your truth, Blair Cuttliff. Tweet your truth.
