On episode 284 of The Atlantic Files, Team USA suffers their first loss to Lithuania in the 2023 FIBA World Cup but then beat the brakes off of Italy, we continue our divisional previews for the 2023-24 NBA season with the Pacific division, and the weird happenings surrounding now-retired NBA ref Eric Lewis.

The 2023 FIBA World Cup is heating up as the semifinals are shaping up. Team USA lost their first game of the tournament as they got beat down by Lithuania but then turned around and beat down Italy. This could have poked the bear in the USA team or they could now be used to the physicality of the international style of play. Will they be able to beat Germany in the semifinal and go on to win gold?

In case you haven’t heard about it, former NBA referee, Eric Lewis, was under investigation for some suspicious social media use. There seemed to be a burner account only replying to tweets to defend the ref when people accused him of incredible bias towards the Boston Celtics. In a surprising move, he retired, and all of a sudden the investigation stopped. Something doesn’t seem right…

Finally, we continued our divisional preview series with the entertaining Pacific Division. Which team will take a hit and will the division all finish with winning records again next season? The Los Angeles Lakers seem primed to improve while the Phoenix Suns brought in some crazy offensive firepower! We dive into our predictions and talk about how the division will shake out.

SUBSCRIBE to Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don’t miss a new episode!

Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
03:30 Team USA loses to Lithuania, beats Italy
18:27 Referee Eric Lewis retires to avoid investigation
30:18 2023-24 NBA Pacific Division Preview
40:10 Outro