Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard has been suspended from all team activities for a week and fined $50,000 after he was caught using anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game, according to the NBA.
Video started circulating online Tuesday of Leonard playing “Call of Duty” on Twitch. In the video, Leonard can be heard saying: “F---ing cowards. Don’t f---ing snipe me, you f---ing k--- b----.”
The Heat on Tuesday night said the franchise “vehemently condemns the use of any form of hate speech" and that Leonard would be "away from the team indefinitely."
But on Thursday, a statement from the NBA said he would be suspended from all Heat facilities and team activities for a week, in addition to being fined and required to participate in a cultural diversity program.
“Meyers Leonard’s comment was inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the NBA or in our society," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in the statement.
"Yesterday, he spoke to representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to better understand the impact of his words and we accept that he is genuinely remorseful," Silver said. "We have further communicated to Meyers that derogatory comments like this will not be tolerated and that he will be expected to uphold the core values of our league — equality, tolerance, inclusion and respect — at all times moving forward.”
The Anti-Defamation League had said in a Twitter post that it was “shocked and disappointed to see @MeyersLeonard use this ugly, offensive #antisemitic slur.”
And tech companies Astro Gaming, Origin PC and Scuf Gaming ended their sponsorship and working relationships with Leonard, an avid gamer.
Leonard apologized on Instagram, saying he didn't know the meaning of the slur he used.
"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," Leonard wrote. "This is not a proper representation of who I am and I want to apologize to the Arisons, my teammates, coaches, front office and everyone associated with the Miami Heat organization."
Heat owner Micky Arison and his son, Nick, the organization's CEO, are Jewish.
Leonard is a center in his ninth NBA season. In January he sustained a shoulder injury and appeared in only three games for the Heat this year, The Associated Press reported.
Last summer, before the Miami Heat kicked off their season playing against the Denver Nuggets at Walt Disney World in Central Florida, Leonard stood during the U.S. national anthem while most players and coaches chose to kneel.
Leonard told the AP at the time that he could not bring himself to kneel because he supported the military. He added that his brother was a U.S. Marine veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan, but said he still supported the Black Lives Matter movement.
