Meyers Leonard said an anti-Semitic slur, claimed he didn’t understand the term, apologized, then got fined and suspended.
The next step in the news cycle?
Asking the NBA’s only avowed Jewish player to comment.
Wizards rookie Deni Avdija, via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington:“Listen, I don’t really want to get into those kinds of things. But I think Meyers didn’t have those kinds of intentions,” Avdija said.
“I think he did a mistake, we know that. We don’t accept those words. But I know he’s a good dude and he didn’t mean to do that. Hopefully, he understood the mistake.”
Avdija didn’t explain how he knows Leonard, or how he knows Leonard well enough to say, “I know he’s a good dude and he didn’t mean to do that.”
I feel for Avdija, who’s trying to find his way in the league and is getting pulled into a controversy created solely by Leonard. Avdija’s perspective is worth seeking.
Hopefully, Avdija is correct that Leonard spoke out of ignorance rather than bigotry and is a good person. But it’s on Leonard – since traded from the Heat to the Thunder – to prove that and learn from his misdeed.
