The Miami Heat announced Tuesday night that center Meyers Leonard would be away from the team indefinitely after he uttered an anti-Semitic slur while live streaming himself playing a video game on Twitch.
"The words used by Meyers Leonard were wrong, and we will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise," a team statement read. "Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely. The Miami Heat will cooperate with the NBA while it conducts its investigation."
The league said earlier Tuesday that it was in the process of gathering information.
"The NBA unequivocally condemns all forms of hate speech," a league spokesperson told Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
Leonard apologized for the incident via Instagram, saying he didn't know the offensive nature of the word he used.
"While I didn't know what the word meant at the time, my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse, and I was just wrong," the 29-year-old posted.
A video clip of the moment from the Monday live stream, in which Leonard taunts an opponent by saying the derogatory remark, spread online Tuesday.
Leonard is currently inactive for the Heat after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery last month. The team holds a club option on his contract next season.
