Meyers Leonard

#4      

Deleted member 747903

D
Guest
Speaking of Meyers, he is trending on Twitter right now for not good reasons

Yea...he messed up big time. Watched the video of it and he clearly knew made a mistake the second he said it.
 
#6      

AirNeezy

Orange Krush '13 -'14
Yeah his career is over. Good thing he made more money than he ever deserved

Love Meyers, but the kid always had maturity issues.

Hopefully he can learn and grow from this, but boy this ain't a good look.
 
#10      
What ever happened to that old saying "sticks and stones". Do people even understand all the vulgar nonsense people say in chat on video games? I randomly clicked on a white dude playing Madden on facebook the other day and he was playing against and talking to black guys in his chat and every other word was the N word between all of them. I generally dont cuss or use slurs, but they are just words. I think people's skin is awfully thin these days. Meyers should know better though considering what is at stake for him along with 70,000 people following him on twitch hearing him talk.
Thinking racial slurs are unacceptable is not being thin skinned
 
#12      

Deleted member 11228

D
Guest
What ever happened to that old saying "sticks and stones". Do people even understand all the vulgar nonsense people say in chat on video games? I randomly clicked on a white dude playing Madden on facebook the other day and he was playing against and talking to black guys in his chat and every other word was the N word between all of them. I generally dont cuss or use slurs, but they are just words. I think people's skin is awfully thin these days. Meyers should know better though considering what is at stake for him along with 70,000 people following him on twitch hearing him talk.
This is not it.
 
#13      
What ever happened to that old saying "sticks and stones". Do people even understand all the vulgar nonsense people say in chat on video games? I randomly clicked on a white dude playing Madden on facebook the other day and he was playing against and talking to black guys in his chat and every other word was the N word between all of them. I generally dont cuss or use slurs, but they are just words. I think people's skin is awfully thin these days. Meyers should know better though considering what is at stake for him along with 70,000 people following him on twitch hearing him talk.
This post started off bad and just continued to get worse.
 
#15      

haasi

New York
Very disappointed as a jew and Illini fan and a big fan of Meyers. I am also forgiving and I believe in 2nd chances. Not sure he deserves one but I'm willing to listen.
Same feelings as a Jewish illini fan. I’ve always been proud of Meyers and he seemed like a standup guy from rural Illinois with a fantastic story. Really saddened to see him say such a hateful, horrible thing. Unfortunately I watched the video. I get that people say all sorts of nasty appalling stuff on twitch, but the way he said it (he paused before, then really emphasized it) doesn’t do him any favors. He was one of the few Illini guys we’ve been able to follow in the nba over the last decade, and he was a bright spot (25 point first half explosion in playoffs, fans and teammates apparently love him despite limited contributions, etc.). This casts a shadow over all of that, and it’s really sad. Illini have a surprising and really great history with Jewish culture- lots of Illini have played in Israel including the father of Israeli basketball Tal Brody and Illini legend Deon Thomas. I’m very disappointed.
 
#16      

AirNeezy

Orange Krush '13 -'14
What ever happened to that old saying "sticks and stones". Do people even understand all the vulgar nonsense people say in chat on video games? I randomly clicked on a white dude playing Madden on facebook the other day and he was playing against and talking to black guys in his chat and every other word was the N word between all of them. I generally dont cuss or use slurs, but they are just words. I think people's skin is awfully thin these days. Meyers should know better though considering what is at stake for him along with 70,000 people following him on twitch hearing him talk.
Next time you think about defending the public use of one of the most egregious anti-semitic slurs, think instead about deleting your account.
 
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#17      

sacraig

The desert
What ever happened to that old saying "sticks and stones". Do people even understand all the vulgar nonsense people say in chat on video games? I randomly clicked on a white dude playing Madden on facebook the other day and he was playing against and talking to black guys in his chat and every other word was the N word between all of them. I generally dont cuss or use slurs, but they are just words. I think people's skin is awfully thin these days. Meyers should know better though considering what is at stake for him along with 70,000 people following him on twitch hearing him talk.

Words are pretty inextricably linked to a history of actions in many cases, especially in the case of ethnic/racial slurs. Further, we shouldn't be judging whether a grown adult's actions are appropriate by comparing them to what are largely a bunch of kids on the internet hiding behind anonymity. It's like judging public discourse according to what is acceptable in YouTube comments.
 
#18      
Yeah his career is over. Good thing he made more money than he ever deserved
Yep. A seldom-used player that is now (rightfully) tainted in the eyes of fans? Not that they were going to, but the Heat aren't bringing him back. I'd be surprised if he ever plays in the NBA again tbh.
 
#19      

bdutts

Houston, Texas
Interestingly, he said he didn’t know what that word meant when he said it. Why would one use a word with which they were not familiar? these days of everything at our fingertips, do a google search and find out what it means.
 
#21      

sacraig

The desert
Interestingly, he said he didn’t know what that word meant when he said it. Why would one use a word with which they were not familiar? these days of everything at our fingertips, do a google search and find out what it means.

On the one hand, it's hard to believe that a person who is a public figure and does know what that word means would drop it so casually on a public stream. The fallout is just so obvious. So there is some kernel of believability there that maybe he legitimately didn't know its meaning and is just an idiot.

But, man, I knew what that word meant in high school. It's really hard to believe that someone who has finished high school, two years of college, and traveled around the country/world doesn't know what that means.
 
#22      

haasi

New York
He knew it was a bad word. He may or may not have meant it in a specifically anti Semitic way. He may have just been looking for an insult and that’s what he came up with. In any event, it’s deeply disturbing and intolerable. Basically the argument by people who say this isn’t a big deal is that hate speech is just so common online and on twitch that it doesn’t mean anything. That’s frightening. A place where hate speech is so normalized leads to hatred becoming normalized too. Even if Meyers doesn’t hate Jews (who knows) it’s a clear signal of approval for those who do. It’s messed up.

Julian Edelman had a nice open letter to Meyers inviting him to meet up and have a conversation. He did same with Desean Jackson a couple years ago. I hope Meyers will do some serious thinking about this and speak out strongly and unequivocally against hate, including the type of casual and maybe thoughtless hate that he engaged in on twitch.
 
#23      
Heard Meyers Leonard was moving to Nashville from someone that talked to him at a wedding last weekend. Anyone know whether or not he has given up on playing anymore?
 
#24      
Heard Meyers Leonard was moving to Nashville from someone that talked to him at a wedding last weekend. Anyone know whether or not he has given up on playing anymore?

No idea, but interesting to read the player news on him. Didn't realize he was in hot water for saying something offensive on a livestream. Says he was fined $50k in March for a slur. Also says he had shoulder surgery a month before and his season was over anyway. Seems like it could have been an excuse to dump him, but I'm a cynic when it comes to how these organizations behave and their true motivations. FWLIW, news said he apologized and was volunteering at a Jewish center. No idea if that even matters to employers in this day and age the way people focus their outrage. That's the way it goes in the entertainment industry, though.

If he never plays again, you'd think he'd be just fine given his 9 seasons in the league, and lottery pick coming out of college. Really enjoyed watching him at Illinois. Great athlete and defender in the paint. Felt like a lot of players were afraid to drive on him.
 
#25      
No idea, but interesting to read the player news on him. Didn't realize he was in hot water for saying something offensive on a livestream. Says he was fined $50k in March for a slur. Also says he had shoulder surgery a month before and his season was over anyway. Seems like it could have been an excuse to dump him, but I'm a cynic when it comes to how these organizations behave and their true motivations. FWLIW, news said he apologized and was volunteering at a Jewish center. No idea if that even matters to employers in this day and age the way people focus their outrage. That's the way it goes in the entertainment industry, though.

If he never plays again, you'd think he'd be just fine given his 9 seasons in the league, and lottery pick coming out of college. Really enjoyed watching him at Illinois. Great athlete and defender in the paint. Felt like a lot of players were afraid to drive on him.
He was marginal when he got in hot water, and there are other marginal guys without baggage. I wager he’s done.

But I believe he made $50M or so. Should be able to get really nice spread outside Nashville and be closeish to home. Good for him.