BEVERLY HILLS, March 10, (THEWILL) – The National Basketball Association (NBA) Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard has been placed on an indefinite suspension from the team after his use of an anti-Semitic slur. It emerged on Tuesday when the video of Leonard calling another player a “f–king k–e b—h” while playing the rival video game “Call of Duty” during a live stream went viral online.
The 29-year-old immediately apologised, saying he did not know what the word meant at the time. He shared his apology through his Instagram account to the public. It read:
“I am deeply sorry for using an anti-Semitic slur during a livestream yesterday. While I didn’t know what the word meant at the time, my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong.
“I am now more aware of its meaning and I am committed to properly seeking out people who can help educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it.
“I acknowledge and own my mistake and there’s no running from something like this that is so hurtful to someone else. … I promise to do better and know that my future actions will be more powerful than my use of this word.”
But, the NBA was quick to intervene pushing out a statement through spokesman Mike Bass that said in part: “We just became aware of the video and are in the process of gathering more information. The NBA unequivocally condemns all forms of hate speech.”
Meanwhile, his team did not take Leonard’s indiscretion lightly. They made that clear in their own statement posted on Twitter:
“The Miami Heat vehemently condemns the use of any form of hate speech. The words used by Meyers Leonard were wrong and we will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise. To hear it from a Miami Heat player is especially disappointing and hurtful to all those who work here, as well as the larger South Florida, Miami Heat and NBA communities.”
The circumstances are unfortunate as Leonard is well known among the gaming community and the avid gamer had about 58,000 followers on Twitch as of Tuesday afternoon. In June 2019, he announced that he partnered with the FaZe Clan, a professional eSports and entertainment organisation in Los Angeles. However, Scuf Gaming and Origin PC both announced after the video emerged that they had ended their working relationships with the Miami big man while they reviewed his actions critically.
Regrettably, this is all happening at a time when anti-Semitism has been on the rise in the United States in general.
After witnessing a continued 15-year drop in anti-Semitic acts, the country reported its first increase in 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League reports. Also, the American Jewish Committee noted an FBI Hate Crimes Statistics Report determined 60 percent of religious-based hate crimes in 2019 were directed toward Jewish people, though they make up less than two percent of the American population as a whole.
Leonard has appeared in just three games this season for the Heat and it is as yet uncertain when he will return.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
