{"id":88752,"date":"2021-08-31T17:05:30","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T15:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=88752"},"modified":"2021-08-24T08:17:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T06:17:00","slug":"31-00-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=88752","title":{"rendered":"NBA Player Meyers Leonard: \u2018I Deserved to Be Punished\u2019 for Antisemitic Slur, Opens Up About \u2018Very Big Mistake\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>NBA Player Meyers Leonard: \u2018I Deserved to Be Punished\u2019 for Antisemitic Slur, Opens Up About \u2018Very Big Mistake\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Meyers Leonard speaking during an ADL webinar on Aug. 20, 2021. Photo: Screenshot.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

NBA free agent Meyers Leonard opened up for the first time publicly last week about the backlash he received for saying an antisemitic slur earlier this year and the lessons he\u2019s since learned from the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI deserved to be punished,\u201d the former Miami Heat center said during an online event hosted Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League. \u201cBut all I can hope for and pray for is for people to be willing to listen, spend time with me and clearly show them the man that I am \u2026 I\u2019m constantly asking for forgiveness to show people my heart.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI made a very big mistake and one that I wish I could take back \u2026 the most difficult part for me is that I caused other people pain. Because I have nothing but love in my heart \u2026 I\u2019m sorry for the pain that I have caused. I own my mistake and I will continue to be better because of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 9, Leonard uttered\u00a0an antisemitic slur<\/a>\u00a0during a live-streamed session of the video game \u201cCall of Duty: Warzone\u201d on the gaming platform Twitch. Following his remarks, the NBA\u00a0fined<\/a>\u00a0the athlete $50,000, immediately suspended him for one week and required him to participate in a cultural diversity program. Leonard also lost a number of gaming sponsorships and was traded from the Heat to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which released him shortly after.<\/span><\/p>\n

The basketball player, who previously apologized for making the antisemitic remark, said during the webinar, \u201cIt\u2019s been an admittedly difficult process to understand how this came out of my mouth and quite frankly it was ignorance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He detailed how his \u201cworld came crashing down\u201d after the incident, and the steps he has subsequently taken to educate himself about antisemitism and the Jewish community. He made the remark on a Tuesday and noted that by the following day, he was already in contact with a local rabbi in Miami. On that Thursday morning, Meyers said, he met with the rabbi to take about his actions \u2014 which he called \u201cone of the most difficult talks I\u2019ve ever had in my life but one of the most important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI cried, and cried, and cried, and asked for forgiveness and grace,\u201d he recounted. \u201cIt was difficult but one of the most powerful days of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The following day he attended his first Shabbat dinner at the rabbi\u2019s house, and later he helped with a Passover food drive, spoke to Holocaust survivors and visited the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach with his wife, an experience which he described as a \u201cvery, very emotional.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust seeing and understanding some of the pain and suffering, [and] just horrific things that have happened were hard for me to see, but it\u2019s important,\u201d he recalled about visiting the Holocaust Memorial. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why I know [that] through garnering all this information and education, I can become and will be an advocate and a solution to some of these problems that are very clear and evident in our world today. I do believe that I can do that with my voice and I will do that with my platform.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Leonard also said he\u2019s grateful for the compassion the Jewish community has shown him since the March incident. He told viewers, \u201cIt\u2019s filled my heart with joy to be immersed into the Jewish community and have developed many, many powerful relationships across the Jewish community \u2026 I am so incredibly thankful truly from the bottom of my heart for the love, compassion, grace [and] forgiveness I\u2019ve been shown from the Jewish community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others who spoke during the ADL event included Jewish WNBA champion Alysha Clark, a former member of the Israeli women\u2019s national basketball team, and Jessica Koyner, a student from Connecticut who experienced antisemitism in her school.<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch the entire online event hosted by the Anti-Defamation League below.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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