A real storm hits Meyers Leonard. In fact, the Miami Heat Center was suspended from its franchise due to an intense anti-Semitic insult that was used during a live broadcast on Twitch, where it was participating in a live Call of Duty game session.
Leonard, born in 1992, expressed himself privately in really unreliable terms, adding the word “kike”, which in the Hebrew context is particularly offensive because it recalls the time when Jewish immigrants were in the United States, when they were asked to sign X on documents. They refused: Remind them of the Christian cross. That is why they chose instead to use a circle, “kikel” in Yiddish, and then “kike” which has since been used as a pejorative (we’re talking about it in the mid-nineteenth century).
The immediate reaction from the NBA, through the mouth of his spokesperson Mike BassTo collect information. The Heat penetrated deeper and even admired its owner’s assets. Mickey Arison, Born in Tel Aviv. In fact, the franchise knocked Leonard out of the team indefinitely with a very harsh statement:The Miami Heat strongly condemns the use of all forms of hate speech. The words Myers Leonard used were wrong and we will not tolerate hate speech from anyone associated with our privilege. Hearing it from a Miami Heat player is even more unfortunate and hurts even more for those who work here, South Florida, the Miami Heat and the NBA communities. Myers Leonard will be out of the squad indefinitely. The Miami Heat will team up with the NBA while its investigations are underway“.
Two hours later, Leonard said:I am very sorry for using anti-Semitic language in a live broadcast yesterday. Although I did not know what the word meant at the time, my ignorance of its history and the extent to which it was offensive to the Jewish community was absolutely no excuse and I was simply wrong. I now know its meaning better and I am committed to looking for people who can educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it.. I realize my mistake and don’t run away from something like this that hurts someone else so much. This isn’t a clear representation of who I am, and I want to apologize to Arison, my teammates and coaches, the front desk, anyone associated with the Miami Heat, my family, our loyal fans and everyone else. Who I harmed in the jewish community. I hope to do better and know that my future actions will be stronger than my use of this word“.
Meanwhile, three gaming companies have already ended their partnership with the player, who has so far averaged 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists.
Photo: La Presse
“Introvert. Avid gamer. Wannabe beer advocate. Subtly charming zombie junkie. Social media trailblazer. Web scholar.”
