NBA Punishes Heat's Meyers Leonard for Ethnic Slur

The NBA has taken action against Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard who used an ethnic slur during a Twitch steam on Monday. Leonard is suspended for one week and has been fined $50,000. He is also required to participate in a cultural diversity program, according to TMZ.

"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 a 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. 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."

Leonard, 29, was playing Call of Duty when the incident happened. During the stream, Leonard dropped a cluster strike and then utter the slur. "F—ing coward, don't f—ing snipe me!" Leonard said. "F—ing k— b—." Shortly after the video went viral, Leonard went to social media to issue an apology.

"I am deeply sorry for using an anti-Semitic slur during a live stream yesterday," he wrote. "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. I am now more aware of its meaning and I am committed to properly seeking out people who can help educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it."

The Heat also weighed in on Leonard's incident. "We can't tolerate that here," Heat captain and 18-year veteran Udonis Haslem said per ESPN. "Right is right, and wrong is wrong. And since I've been here in this organization, to the day I leave this organization and beyond, we're going to try to be on the right side of everything -- especially issues like this."

Leonard was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in No. 11 overall in 2012. He was with the Trail Blazers for seven seasons before being traded to the Heat in July 2019. In his first season in Miami, Leonard started in 49 games and averaged 6.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.