NBA player Meyers Leonard to speak about his anti-Semitism controversy at U of Miami Hillel event

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(JTA) — Meyers Leonard, the NBA player who was caught using an anti-Semitic slur online, will speak about his experiences following the incident with students at the University of Miami’s Hillel.

The Zoom conversation, titled “From Heat to Healing,” will take place on Tuesday.

On March 8, Leonard said the word “kike” while livestreaming a video game for thousands of followers on the Twitch platform.

Leonard was suspended from the Heat indefinitely and fined $50,000 by the NBA. Nine days later the team traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who then waived him after the league’s trade deadline, making his future in the NBA uncertain. FaZe Clan, an esports company Leonard had invested in, also said it would “cut ties” with him over the slur.

Since the incident, Leonard has done volunteer work with the rabbi of Chabad of Southwest Broward, delivering food and talking with Holocaust survivors in the Miami area.

“Meyers is really interested in putting in the hard work and learning about the Jewish community,” the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s director of community relations told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The University of Miami has approximately 2,000 Jewish students, according to Hillel, in an overall undergraduate population of 11,000.

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