"He was rigging games against Lakers" - NBA Fans Stunned as Controversial Referee Eric Lewis Returns Unexpectedly as G League Official Post Retirement

The NBA announced on Friday that they have reinstated former referee Eric Lewis. According to the league, Lewis will begin working for the league again, starting this weekend. However, he won't be officiating at the professional level. Instead, the former referee will be an official for the G League.

Lewis is a well-experienced official with nearly 20 years of officiating. The NBA released a statement, recognizing his past mistake. Byron Spruell, NBA President of League Operations, addressed the mistake the former official made, leading to his retirement.

“Over nearly 20 years, Eric established himself as one of the NBA’s premier game officials,” Spruell said. “While he made a mistake in engaging on social media, our investigation concluded that his behavior did not impact his ability to officiate games fairly and with integrity. We are confident he has learned from that experience and can properly serve the game again, first as an NBA G League official and potentially in a return as an NBA official.”

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However, fans aren't excited about the news. Here are some of what the fans said about Eric Lewis' return.

"I'm sorry this is madness. He was literally rigging games against the Lakers," a fan said. "The NBA is re-hiring a referee who rigged one of their basketball games. What an absolute joke this league has become under Adam Silver," a fan commented. "Mfs talk about betting but say his admitted bias doesn’t affect the game," one fan said.

More fans were confused by the NBA's decision to reinstate the former official.

"First game back we blitzing him I swear to god I didn’t forget," someone commented. "So instead of announcing that you'll be suspending Marc Davis after one of the worst calls in nba history last night, u announce a potential return of a crooked ref?" a comment read. "Refs are so bad, they have to bring back guys like this. Donaghy next?" a fan commented.

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Why did Eric Lewis retire?

In 2023, the NBA launched an open investigation regarding an X account, "Blair Cuttliff" with the handle @CuttliffBlair. The account was consistently defending Eric Lewis and the rest of the league's officials. Since the start of the investigation, the account has been deleted.

It is a league rule prohibiting referees from publicly discussing officiating without permission, which could be a problem. Additionally, the account was linked to Lewis.

After a few months, however, Eric Lewis announced his immediate retirement. The NBA concluded its inquiry after learning about Lewis' choice. The investigation did not confirm if the account belonged to the longtime referee. His last officiating work was in Game 1 of the 2023 Western Conference finals between the LA Lakers and Denver Nuggets.

Edited by Reign Amurao