The Milwaukee Bucks signed center Meyers Leonard to a 10-day contract Monday, ESPN reported.
Leonard last played in the NBA in January 2021. In March of that year, he used an antisemitic slur while streaming a video game on Twitch.
He released an apology and received a one-week suspension from the NBA, but his team at the time, the Miami Heat, suspended him indefinitely and eventually traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City then released Leonard.
Leonard, who turns 31 next week, was rehabbing from leg surgery at the time of the incident. He had nerve damage in his right leg following a surgery.
The 7-footer worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers last month. He also told ESPN in an interview that he was sorry for his “ignorance” of the meaning of the slur he used.
“I said, you better go handle this and to show people what’s in your heart … I thought that it’d be easier to be dead than it would be to deal with what had just happened, because I want everyone to like me,” Leonard said. “I don’t hate anybody. I would never intentionally hurt anybody.”
Leonard has career averages of 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in 447 games (93 starts) with the Portland Trail Blazers (2012-19) and Heat (2019-21).
–Field Level Media
