Hurling insults at opponents in the heat of a match is a fairly common occurrence in gaming. Foul language and grade-school level antagonism is often let loose, and while it can be a bit shocking, most of it can be brushed off. When trash talk crosses the line, however, it can be quite revealing and very damaging. That’s why NBA star Meyers Leonard is making headlines right now after letting fly a racist epithet during a Call of Duty: Warzone stream.
The world of live streaming on platforms like Twitch, Facebook, or YouTube has created a more open environment for fans to engage, in real-time, with their favorite gamers and content creators. It can give fans the feeling that they’re enjoying a game with a close friend, sitting on the couch next to them. The flip side of that is that closeness comes with a great deal of risk that something unexpected could happen. Former streamer ‘KillaMfCam’ was banned from Twitch after threatening his child on stream, and sadly, this is not a one-off situation.
The sports (and gaming) world is abuzz right now with the news that NBA player Meyers Leonard, of the Miami Heat, uttered an anti-Semitic slur in a recent stream of Call of Duty: Warzone. The center, who has been injured since January, has recently been teaming up with a number of prominent Call of Duty: Warzone streamers. While Leonard does let a fair amount of trash talk fly on stream, when racism enters the equation, a line has definitely been crossed. EA recently issued a lifetime ban to a FIFA player who sent racist messages to former English footballer Ian Wright. While Leonard’s case is breaking news, given the NBA’s no-tolerance stance on racism, the center in his 9th NBA season could face serious consequences.
Making use of language like that is a learned behavior and to weaponize it as an insult to be casually tossed out mid-game in Warzone, is deplorable. It highlights the fact that racism is still a huge problem, and is unfortunately something almost every person who has played Warzone has at some point heard in the death comms, where players hear a few seconds of audio from a defeated opponent.
Leonard may have been caught in a ‘slip of the tongue’ moment, but the reality is that these words circulate freely, and are extremely hurtful. Using them consciously, or unconsciously, reveals a lot about a person, as it is very easy, or at least it should be, to not use hateful language. Fans that have built a center in NBA2K21 to match Leonard’s on-court abilities may want to rethink that now.
Source: Reddit (Content Warning)
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