“Laughed at me when I grabbed the camera”: Patrick Beverley responds to NBA investigating its referee
Patrick Beverley revisited one of his most controversial technical fouls assessed by referee Eric Lewis after reports emerged about the latter getting investigated by the NBA. Fans on Twitter detected a burner account, which may have been created by Lewis.
The tweets on the account defended Lewis' refereeing bias during Boston Celtics games. The Celtics are 36-2 in games Lewis has officiated since 2020. Another coincidence regarding the same is Lewis' family being huge Celtics fans. Lewis has frequently made questionable calls that rival fanbases have been agitated by previously.
🦓
NBA ref Eric Lewis is under investigation for operating a 'Twitter burner account'. 👀 🦓
(Via @TheSteinLine)
#NBA #NBAPlayoffs https://t.co/43XOOM3EWA
These events came to light when Eric Lewis officiated LA Lakers' road game against the Boston Celtics during the regular season on January 28. Lewis awarded the C's multiple calls, which were nowhere close to being worthy of a foul.
On the final possession of regulation time, the veteran official didn't whistle Jayson Tatum despite him committing a blatant foul on LeBron James. Replays showed Tatum hit James' shooting arm on a layup, which the latter missed.
ESPN]The Lakers-Celtics match was filled with drama until the very last second!
LeBron James absolutely lost it after the referees missed an obvious foul from Jayson Tatum 😱
[📷 ESPN]
#LeBronJames #Lakers #Celtics #Tatum
https://t.co/Q47BF9YJ6R
A foul call would've awarded James two free throws on the last possession, giving him a chance to win the game even if he made one of his two FT attempts. The game went overtime, and the Celtics won it 125-121. Beverley, who was with the Lakers at the time, showed Lewis clear evidence that Tatum had fouled James. The official issued Beverley a technical foul for his provocative reaction.
With reports emerging about the NBA's investigation on Eric Lewis running a burner account, Patrick Beverley took to Twitter to take shots at the referee, saying:
"Laughed at me when I grabbed the camera yea aight"
Laughed at me when I grabbed the camera 📷 yea aight 🤦🏾♂️
The burner account no longer exists, but screen recordings of the tweets have gone viral on Twitter. Here's the video:
they found NBA ref Eric Lewis burner 😂😂 https://t.co/NMPNoIzeWU
LeBron James joins Patrick Beverley in mocking Eric Lewis
LeBron James also took note of Eric Lewis getting investigated by the NBA for allegedly running a burner account. He was on the receiving end of one of the most controversial decisions made by the official and took to Twitter to confirm if reports regarding Lewis were true. Here's what James tweeted:
"This Eric Lewis s**t true???"
true??? 🤨This Eric Lewis 💩 true??? 🤨
The loss cost the Lakers a crucial win at that stage of the season. They aimed to get closer to the .500 mark and into the top 10 after being stuck at 13th for a significant stretch. It garnered animated reactions from LeBron, Patrick Beverley and almost every other Lakers player on the roster during that game.