TheThe NBA was once again splashed by A. Controversial with xenophobic overtones distance Miami Heat Myers Leonard Center He was accused of delivering anti-Semitic insults during a streaming.de is a game from the “Call of Duty” video game..

Virginia hub that He hasn’t played since January 9th Due to a shoulder injury that would make him miss the entire season, he broadcast live on his Twitch channel a game from the popular video game and at some point during the match he heard: “Damn cowards! Do not shoot me, you dreaded cowards!” [forma despectiva de referirse a los judios]”.

Both the NBA and the Miami Heat themselves weren’t slow to take action and they opened up An investigation to clarify what happened With the axis that was trained at the University of Illinois. For now, he decided to franchise Florida Put the player away indefinitely. “We just heard about the video and are in the process of gathering more information,” National Basketball Association spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement. “The NBA condemns unequivocally all forms of hate speech.”.

While I didn’t know what the word meant, my ignorance of its history and the extent to which it was offensive to the Jewish community is no excuse at all.

Myers Leonard

A word also made by Heat, its main contributor, Mickey Arison is of Jewish descentThe Heat franchise strongly condemns the use of any form of hate speech. The words Myers Leonard used were wrong and we will not tolerate hate speech From anyone associated with our franchise. Hearing this from one of the Heat players is especially frustrating and painful for everyone working here. “

Leonard’s apologies

For his part, the player issued a statement of apology acknowledging his mistake: “I deeply regret the use of an anti-Semitic insult during a live broadcast. While I did not know what the word meant at the time, I was ignorant of its history. The extent of the insult to the Jewish community is by no means an excuse, I am committed to properly searching for People who can help me educate myself about this type of hate and how we can combat it. I own my fault and I cannot escape from something like this that is very painful for someone else. This is not an adequate representation of who I am and I want to apologize to Arison, my teammates and coaches … I promise to do better and know that my future actions will be stronger than using this word. “

Leonard was already embroiled in another controversy a few months ago when he decided so Not accompanying the rest of their companions when kneeling while performing the hymn American as a sign of protest. the hub His brother twice served in Afghanistan as a member of the Marine CorpsThus he justified his decision: “It was not an easy thing for me. I hope that those who do not know me learn from this. The world now looks black or white, and if you do not kneel then you are against it. It is not.”

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