On March 8, 2021, Meyers Leonard was midway through a Call of Duty: Warzone session on Twitch when an opponent killed his character. What he said next got him fined $50,000, cut from the Miami Heat and shipped to a team that released him before he ever practised with them, all before the month was out.
He did not play another NBA game for more than two years.
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The Exact Words Leonard Used on That Twitch Stream
During the stream, reacting to being killed in the game, Leonard shouted at his screen:
“F***ing cowards. Don’t f***ing snipe at me. You k**e bitch.”
The word he used is one of the most offensive antisemitic slurs in the English language. Its origins are debated, but the most widely cited theory traces it to the Yiddish word kikel, meaning circle. Jewish immigrants arriving in the United States in the late 19th century often signed entry forms with a circle rather than a cross, not knowing the Latin alphabet. The slur grew from that practice.
The stream went largely unnoticed on the Monday night it happened. By Tuesday afternoon the clip had spread across Twitter, where it sat at the top of the trending list in the United States.
Why the Miami Heat Took This Personally
The Miami Heat are owned by Micky Arison, an Israeli-American businessman born in Tel Aviv. His late father Ted, founder of Carnival Cruise Line, was also born there.
Leonard had used the antisemitic slur while playing for a franchise whose ownership has a direct, personal connection to the Jewish community. The team’s statement reflected exactly that:
“The Miami Heat vehemently condemns the use of any form of hate speech. The words used by Meyers Leonard were wrong and we will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise. To hear it from a Miami Heat player is especially disappointing and hurtful to all those who work here.”
The NBA Fine, the Suspension, and the Trade to OKC
The NBA imposed a $50,000 fine, a one-week suspension, and mandatory participation in a cultural diversity programme. The Heat told Leonard to stay away from the organisation indefinitely.
On March 17, nine days after the incident, Miami traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a deal involving Trevor Ariza and a draft pick. The Thunder stated publicly that Leonard was a salary filler and would not join the team or take part in any basketball activities. He was released on March 25, 2021.
FaZe Clan, the esports organisation Leonard had invested in as a content creator, cut ties with him the same week.
He had already been out since February with a torn shoulder labrum. In April 2021 he underwent ankle surgery, and doctors found nerve damage in the lower half of his right leg. His NBA future was gone, at least for the time being.
His Full Apology
That Tuesday night, Leonard posted a full statement on Instagram:
“I am deeply sorry for using an anti-Semitic slur during a livestream yesterday. 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. I am now more aware of its meaning and I am committed to properly seeking out people who can help educate me about this type of hate and how we can fight it. I acknowledge and own my mistake and there’s no running from something like this that is so hurtful to someone else. I promise to do better and know that my future actions will be more powerful than my use of this word.”
He also apologised directly to Micky Arison and his family, his teammates, coaches and the Jewish community at large.
Death Threats, Suicidal Thoughts and Therapy
Nearly two years after the incident, Leonard sat with ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap for a full Outside the Lines interview that aired January 31, 2023. He was direct about how bad things got.
On whether he knew the meaning of the word when he used it: “Absolutely not. There are absolutely no excuses for what happened that day, and ignorance, sadly, is a very real thing. And that’s what I was.”
On his lowest point after the story broke: “I thought that it’d be easier to be dead than it would be to deal with what had just happened.”
Leonard told Schaap the fallout required 24-hour security after death threats were made against him and his family. He entered therapy, where he confronted, for the first time, the grief of losing his father to a bicycle accident in Robinson, Illinois when he was six years old.
The Shabbat Dinner, Holocaust Survivors and 500 Passover Packages
Two days after the clip went viral, Leonard drove to the Chabad of Southwest Broward in Cooper City, Florida, for a first meeting with Rabbi Pinny Andrusier, who had maintained a relationship with the Heat organisation since 2007.
On the evening of March 12, Andrusier invited Leonard to Shabbat dinner. Around 30 members of the local Jewish community were there, including Leonard’s wife Elle and his brother Bailey, a U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan.
That night, Leonard met Michael Kaufman, a Holocaust survivor born in a German displaced persons camp after both his parents survived Auschwitz. When Kaufman told his story, Andrusier later recalled:
“The place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone, including Leonard, was crying.”
Leonard also spent time with Holocaust survivor Rose Marmor during those early sessions. In the months that followed, he:
- Spent more than 30 hours in one-on-one sessions with Rabbi Andrusier
- Met via Zoom with the Anti-Defamation League and the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
- Took part in a University of Miami Hillel event called “From Heat to Healing”
- Personally delivered more than 500 Passover packages of matzah, wine and food to Holocaust survivors and quarantined families
- Visited the Illinois Chabad Center in Champaign in January 2022, taking his engagement to the university community where his career had begun
Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University, author of Antisemitism: Here and Now, said of Leonard’s approach: “I think the fact that he reached out to a rabbi, went to Shabbat dinner and didn’t immediately alert the press says a lot.”
The ADL stated it was “encouraged by his efforts to educate himself about the Jewish community, antisemitism, and the impact of his words, and that he has matched his apology with concrete actions.”
Rabbi Andrusier, speaking to the Sun Sentinel in April 2023, said: “Judaism is about second chances. We have Yom Kippur once a year.”
On his own commitment, Leonard said: “It is very much a lifelong thing for me.”
Back in the NBA — With the Heat as His First Opponent
On January 13, 2023, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted Leonard for a private workout, his first publicised step toward a comeback. The Milwaukee Bucks signed him the following month under three separate contracts: a 10-day deal on February 22, a second 10-day on March 4, and a rest-of-season agreement on March 14.
His first NBA game back was February 24, 2023, against the Miami Heat. The Bucks won 128-99. Leonard scored five points, grabbed six rebounds and played 15 minutes off the bench. He had not appeared in an NBA game since January 2021.
Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer said after the signing: “Meyers has been really, really diligent and conscientious about engaging with the Jewish community. We feel like he’s a person of high character that has owned and tried to make this an educational opportunity for himself and others.”
For perspective: Kyrie Irving was suspended for roughly two weeks after his own antisemitism controversy in late 2022. Leonard, whose community engagement was far more extensive, missed more than two full calendar years.
Retirement, Country Music and Life in Nashville
Leonard retired on March 2, 2025, at 33, announcing it the same day he released his debut country single, “Good in Goodbye,” co-written with Nashville songwriters Steve Thomas and Caleb Mills. The song crossed two million TikTok views within months.
He and his wife Elle had moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2023. Their son Liam was born in June 2022. A second son, Jackson, arrived in Nashville on May 14, 2025.
In 2022, Leonard and Elle donated $500,000 to the University of Illinois for the renovation of the Ubben Basketball Complex, the gym where the two had their first date back in 2011.
Over ten NBA seasons, Leonard played 456 games, averaged 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds, and shot 39% from three-point range. His career-high was 30 points and 12 rebounds, scored in overtime of Game 4 of the 2019 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
In his retirement statement, Leonard wrote that leaving basketball had given him “the chance to be the father I never had.”
His father James died in a bicycle accident in Robinson, Illinois. Meyers Leonard was six years old.
