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When Chicago Bulls starting point guard Patrick Beverley was still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he received a technical foul for bringing a photographer’s camera onto the court to show an official a call that the latter had missed while L.A. was hosting the Boston Celtics in a late January tilt with postseason implications.
The NBA has opened an investigation into that very same official – referee Eric Lewis – over the suspected use of a fake Twitter account, per Marc Stein of The Stein Line on May 26.
“Laughed at me when I grabbed the camera,” Beverley tweeted on May 27. “Yea, aight.”
As Michael Kaskey-Blomain of CBS Sports notes, the last time the NBA investigated the social media activity of a non-player was Bryan Colangelo, then an executive with the Philadelphia 76ers, after he was found to be divulging personal information and criticizing players.
The account’s activity is mostly defending Lewis and has since been deleted after it was called out as being a front.
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 🧵⬇️
The official NBA referee’s Twitter account issued a statement after the missed call in the Lakers game in January in response to a report from Ben Golliver of the Washington Post labeling LeBron James and Co. as “irate” over the mishap.
The Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals but winning that game against the Celtics could have kept them from having to play in the Play-In Tournament.
“This Eric Lewis [s***] true,” James asked in a tweet on May 27.
Patrick Beverley Reacts to Celtics Forcing Game 7 vs Heat
Beverley made clear his belief that the Bulls would have been better off had he been on the team from the outset of the season. Perhaps it was a negotiating ploy but they did go 14-9 down the stretch.
Even he had to give it up for a thrilling and historic Game 6 as the Celtics forced the first-ever Game 7 in a Conference Finals after falling down 3-0 in the series.
“What a Game,” tweeted Beverley.
The outspoken Beverley was also adamant that the Bulls were closer than most believe given they had a lead late in their second-round Play-In Tournament matchup against the Miami Heat.
Beverley has also pointed out his potential impact on individual players as well.
Patrick Beverley Questions Bulls Over Zach LaVine’s Stats
In a show of goodwill, the Bulls’ social media team released a video collage on Twitter featuring Zach LaVine and captioned it with his final stats from the 2022-23 season. LaVine admittedly got off to a slow start, finishing just outside the top 20 in scoring for the year.
Beverley, who made it a point to say LaVine only needed to focus on being a scorer upon the former’s arrival, underscored that in a quote tweet of the Bulls’ post.
Beverley arrived after the All-Star break but, to his point, LaVine ranked 12th in scoring after the trade deadline with 27.2 points on 52.2% shooting from the floor and 37.5% from beyond the arc, adding 4.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds over his final 27 appearances.
Of course, if Beverley is truly beholden to his $13 million starting point for his next contract, the “very likely” possibility that he may join the Houston Rockets may need to come to fruition.
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Bulls’ Patrick Beverley Reacts to NBA Investigation of Referee