Miami Heat suspend center Meyers Leonard over anti-Semitic slur

• Published date: 11 March 2021
• Author: Elad Benari
• Date: 11 March 2021
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

The club said the 29-year-old would "be away from the team indefinitely" after footage of the incident on Monday emerged.

"The Miami Heat vehemently condemns the use of any form of hate speech," the club said in a statement quoted by AFP.

"The words used by Meyers Leonard were wrong and we will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise. To hear it from a Miami Heat player is especially disappointing and hurtful to all those who work here, as well as the larger South Florida, Miami Heat and NBA communities," the team added.

"Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely. The Miami Heat will cooperate with the NBA while it conducts its investigation."

Leonard apologized on Tuesday for using the anti-Semitic slur, claiming in a statement he did not know the meaning of the word when he used it.

"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...