Heat coach, teammates speak out against ‘distasteful and hurtful’ word used by Meyers Leonard
As the NBA continues to investigate the use of an anti-Semitic slur by center Meyers Leonard, the Miami Heat returned to practice Wednesday night following the week-long All-Star break.
“I’m disappointed. Those words are extremely hurtful,” coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday when asked about Leonard’s situation. “We don’t condone that and there’s just so much more that needs to be done in terms of education on what’s right versus what’s wrong.
“We know Meyers. Meyers has been a really good teammate. He’s a good human being. He said something that was extremely distasteful and hurtful, and we’re left with the aftermath of that. But we don’t condone that, obviously. It was a disappointing day.”
The Heat announced Tuesday that Leonard “will be away from the team indefinitely” after he used an anti-Jewish slur while streaming a recent “Call of Duty” video-gaming gaming session on Twitch’s live streaming platform. On a video that surfaced on Twitter on Tuesday, Leonard can be heard saying: “F---ing cowards, don’t f---ing snipe me you f---ing k--e b--ch.”
In a team statement issued Tuesday night condemning Leonard’s use of “hateful language,” the Heat said it “will cooperate with the NBA while it conducts its investigation.” A suspension and/or fine could be coming Leonard’s way depending on the result of the investigation.
Spoelstra said he has spoken with Leonard about the incident, and Leonard “feels really bad about it.”
“Basically that you can’t brush it under the rug,” Spoelstra said of what he told Leonard during their conversation. “There are consequences to words, and those were extremely hurtful words.”
Leonard is currently owed $4.18 million of his $9.4 million salary for this season, according to ESPN analyst and former Nets executive Bobby Marks. When an NBA player is suspended, they generally lose 1/145th of their salary for each game they miss.
To avoid double jeopardy on a potential punishment, the Heat is deferring to the league and its investigation of the situation.
Leonard issued an apology Tuesday for his comments, posting this statement on his Instagram account: “I am deeply sorry for using an anti-Semitic slur during a livestream yesterday. 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. I acknowledge and own my mistake and there’s no running from something like this that is so hurtful to someone else. This is not a proper representation of who I am and I want to apologize to the Arisons, my teammates, coaches, front office, and everyone associated with the Miami Heat organization, to my family, to our loyal fans and to others in the Jewish community who I have hurt. I promise to do better and know that my future actions will be more powerful than my use of this word.”
The Heat’s decision to have Leonard away from the team indefinitely does not impact its on-court product, as he played in just three games this season before sustaining a season-ending left shoulder injury in January. But Leonard was a well-respected voice and leader in Miami’s locker room, and was often on the team’s bench supporting his teammates at home games.
“People gotta be held accountable for their actions,” Heat forward Andre Iguodala said. “The same thing in this scenario. You gotta be held accountable, you got to really understand your own actions. You just got to man up and realize it’s not right. It’s up to him to right his wrong.”
The NBA’s March 25 trade deadline also looms over the situation
Leonard’s $9.4 million salary, essentially part of what could be an expiring contract because of the $10.2 million team option in his deal for next season, still could be used by the Heat to help facilitate a potential trade. But Leonard must approve any trade he’s part of because of NBA rules that say players who are on a one-year contract (excluding any option year) and will have Bird or Early Bird rights at the end of the season have the right to veto a trade.
If Leonard is traded, the Heat will lose the $4.7 million disabled player exception it was granted by the NBA for his season-ending shoulder injury. But if Miami was to release Leonard, that $4.7 million exception would still be available for Miami to use before the April 19 deadline.
If the Heat retains Leonard, he can only be traded this upcoming offseason if Miami exercises the $10.2 million team option in his contract for next season.
“From the bottom of my heart and this organization, we apologize,” Heat forward and team captain Udonis Haslem said Wednesday when asked what his message is to the Jewish community. “That won’t be tolerated here and we’re going to be on the right side of these things moving forward. I felt it. I have a lot of Jewish friends. They call me Udonis Haslem-berg sometimes. I have a lot of Jewish friends. So I felt it and I reached out to a couple of them after that happened just to see how they were feeling and just to make sure they were OK.
“Since I’ve been here with this organization and 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.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 9:46 PM.
