The NBA fined Meyers Leonard at the Miami Heat center $ 50,000 and suspended him from team facilities and all activities Thursday after using an anti-Semitic insult during a recent live video game stream this week.
Leonard will also have to take part in a “cultural diversity program”.
“Meyers Leonard’s comment was unforgivable and painful, and such an offensive term does not occur in the NBA or in our society,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
In a video that started circulating on social networks on Tuesday, Leonard can be heard saying: “Fuck you; don’t tell me, damn, damn. -.”
On Tuesday night, the Heat announced that Leonard would be leaving the team indefinitely, and the center apologized in the Instagram post, partially writing: “I promise to do better and I know that my future actions will be stronger than my own. use of this word “.
“He said something extremely unpleasant and painful,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said on Wednesday. “And we stayed after that.”
Silver said on Wednesday that Leonard spoke with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that was founded to fight anti-Semitism. Leonard’s mandatory cultural diversity program is a multi-session course that provides cultural, racial and sensitivity training.
“We accept that he is really sorry,” Silver continued in a statement. “In addition, I have informed Meyers that these derogatory comments will not be tolerated and he is expected to uphold the core values of our league: equality, tolerance, inclusion and respect, at any time in the future.”
Silver, who appeared on ESPN’s Greeny, told Mike Greenberg’s host that Leonard met voluntarily with the Anti-Defamation League. He also said that the $ 50,000 fine is the maximum amount a player could be fined for such an act.
“I don’t think you understood the importance of what you were saying and you pay a price for it,” he said.
The week of the suspension does not include the loss of salary for the lost games, because Leonard is currently injured, confirmed Bobby Marks from ESPN. He appeared in just three games for the Heat this year and was diagnosed with a shoulder injury at the end of the season in January. He will continue to be compensated for the five games played by the Heat during their suspension. If he were healthy, Leonard would face a loss of $ 324,000.
Leonard could become a free agent this summer; Heat has a team option next season worth about $ 10 million.