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Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard uses slur on video, apologizes

Heat says he'll be away from team
Miami Heat forward Meyers Leonard in December 2020
Posted at 8:44 PM, Mar 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-09 22:37:11-05

MIAMI — The Miami Heat said Tuesday night that center Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely, sharply criticizing his use of an anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game that was being livestreamed.

Leonard acknowledged that he used the term Monday, and said he did not know what it meant at that time.

In his apology, posted on social media, he said his "ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong."

An NBA spokesman said the league "unequivocally condemns all forms of hate speech."