Referee Eric Lewis retires amid NBA investigation

NBA referee Eric Lewis announced his retirement Wednesday, prompting the league to end its investigation into the 19-year veteran's social media activity.

The league opened an investigation in May amid allegations that Lewis operated an account under a pseudonym on X, formerly known as Twitter, to defend himself and other NBA referees.

The investigation sought to determine if Lewis violated league rules by discussing officiating in an unauthorized manner. Lewis was alleged to have used a since-deleted account under the name "Blair Cuttliff."

Referees aren't permitted to publicly comment on officiating without the league's permission.

The league subsequently didn't name Lewis to its 12-person officiating team for the NBA Finals. He had officiated games in each of the previous four NBA Finals.

Lewis had officiated over 1,100 regular-season contests in addition to 82 playoff outings. The last contest he worked was Game 1 of the Western Conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets on May 16.