Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard will be away indefinitely after using an anti-Semitic slur Call of Duty during a Twitch stream video that appeared on social media Tuesday afternoon.
The organization issued a statement Tuesday night saying it “condemns the use of any form of hate speech.”
“The words used by Meyers Leonard were incorrect and we will not tolerate any hate speech by anyone associated with our franchise,” the statement said. ‘Hearing it from a Miami Heat player is especially disappointing and hurtful to everyone who works here, as well as the larger South Florida, Miami Heat and NBA communities.
“Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely. The Miami Heat will work with the NBA while he investigates.”
On the video that appeared on social media, Leonard can be heard saying, “F —— cowards, don’t f —— snip at me, you f —— k — b —-.”
Leonard apologized Tuesday night, saying he was deeply sorry he used the recording during the live stream and did not know what the word meant.
“My ignorance of history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely no excuse, and I was just wrong,” Leonard said. “I am now more aware of its meaning and committed to properly seeking out people who can help me teach me about this kind of hatred and how we can fight it.
“It’s not a proper representation of who I am, and I want to apologize to the Arisons, my teammates, coaches, front office and everyone involved with the Miami Heat.”
Leonard, 29, has nearly 70,000 followers on Twitch. He was in the middle of streaming on Tuesday when the clip appeared on Twitter and went viral.
Around the NBA, Leonard is an avid streamer. In April 2020, he played himself Call of Duty for 26 hours as part of a fundraiser, raising more than $ 45,000 for Feeding America, an organization of more than 200 food banks.