Controversial star handed NBA lifeline after exile

1 year ago 83

Meyers Leonard is getting different accidental astatine the NBA, astir 2 years aft helium used an anti-Semitic slur portion playing a video game that was being unrecorded streamed.

A idiosyncratic with cognition of the negotiations said Leonard and the Milwaukee Bucks person agreed connected a 10-day contract, opening the doorway for the 216cm centre to play successful an NBA crippled for the archetypal clip since January 2021. The idiosyncratic spoke to The Associated Press connected information of anonymity due to the fact that the woody had not been announced.

ESPN archetypal reported the statement betwixt Leonard and the Bucks.

Leonard's vocation was jeopardised and his estimation was earnestly damaged successful March 2021 erstwhile it was discovered that helium utilized a slur portion playing an online crippled arsenic others watched connected a unrecorded stream. The Heat told him to enactment distant from the squad indefinitely, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver fined him much than $70,000 and Miami yet traded him to Oklahoma City.

Leonard said past that helium knew he'd utilized a atrocious term, but was unaware of the term's meaning. In an apology, helium said “my ignorance astir its past and however violative it is to the Jewish assemblage is perfectly not an excuse and I was conscionable wrong.” He instantly began scheduling meetings with Holocaust survivors, rabbis successful South Florida and different assemblage leaders.

That was the commencement of him spending overmuch of the past 2 years trying to atone for what helium did — astir each of it quietly, successful a deliberate effort to quash immoderate conception his enactment was simply done to get affirmative media coverage.

He has spoken and worked with respective Jewish groups connected assorted things, enactment connected a fig of hoops camps for Jewish children and apologised countless times for what helium said and his ignorance astir what the word meant.

Leonard was not going to play successful the remainder of that 2020-21 play aft suffering a enarthrosis wounded successful January of 2021, 2 months earlier the incident. He has since dealt with ankle and different issues, but has been moving toward an NBA instrumentality for months.

For the Bucks, the determination carries astir nary risk. They'll get 10 days to spot if Leonard — who was with Miami for its tally to the 2020 NBA Finals successful the restart bubble astatine Walt Disney World — tin assistance with their playoff push.

Most players and coaches chose to kneel successful that bubble for the playing of the US and Canadian nationalist anthems erstwhile the NBA play resumed there. Leonard stood instead, his manus implicit his heart, and did truthful with the enactment of Heat teammates.

“I americium a compassionate quality being and I genuinely emotion each people,” Leonard told The Associated Press astatine the time.

For his career, Leonard has averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds connected 48 per cent shooting, 39 per cent from three-point range.

For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!