The National Basketball Association slapped Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard with a $50,000 fine for using an anti-Semitic slur.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the fine Thursday, adding that Leonard would be suspended from all Miami Heat facilities and activities for one week. He used the phrase while playing Call of Duty: Warzone and streaming Monday on Twitch, video showed.
“F—— cowards, don’t f—— snipe at me, you f—— k— b—-,” Leonard said in the video.
Leonard, who claimed he didn’t know what the slur meant, 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, according to the Times of Israel.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS’ JULIAN EDELMAN RESPONDS TO MIAMI HEAT’S MEYERS LEONARD’S ANTI-SEMITIC SLUR
“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,” Silver said.
After the incident, New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is Jewish, wrote an open letter to Leonard saying that he hopes they meet one day and share Shabbat dinner.
“I get the sense that you didn’t use that word out of hate, more out of ignorance,” Edelman said. “Most likely, you weren’t trying to hurt anyone or even profile Jews in your comment. That’s what makes it so destructive.”
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The Portland Trail Blazers picked Leonard in 2012 as the 11th overall pick. He was traded to the Miami Heat in 2019 and was re-signed by the team in 2020.
