Meyers Leonard's coach and Miami Heat teammates offered no excuses Wednesday for Leonard's use of an anti-Semitic slur during a recent video game livestream, nor did they make any effort to hide their disappointment in him in their first public comments about the incident.

"He said something that was extremely distasteful and hurtful," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And we're left with the aftermath of that."

In a video that surfaced Tuesday on social media, Leonard can be heard saying: "F---ing cowards; don't f---ing snipe me, you f---ing k--- b----." Leonard apologized in an Instagram post, and he will be away from the Heat indefinitely, according to the organization, while the NBA conducts an investigation.

Leonard's season was already over because of a shoulder injury.

"There are consequences to words," Spoelstra said. "And those were extremely hurtful words."

The Heat went back to work Wednesday to end their All-Star break. The team opens its second-half schedule Thursday against Orlando. Spoelstra has spoken with Leonard, as have other team officials.

"We can't tolerate that here," Heat captain and 18-year veteran Udonis Haslem said of the usage of the slur. "Right is right, and wrong is wrong. And since I've been here in this organization, to the day I leave this organization and beyond, we're going to try to be on the right side of everything -- especially issues like this."

Haslem was asked if Leonard ever used language around him that was offensive.

"No, sir," Haslem said. "I've never heard him use any language that made me uncomfortable at all."

Spoelstra has offered high praise for Leonard's work ethic and effort many times during the 7-foot center's year and a half with the team.

Those days seem long ago now.

"It doesn't matter the intent," Spoelstra said. "It's just not right."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The San Antonio Spurs and veteran power forward/center LaMarcus Aldridge have mutually agreed that he will not return to the team, coach Gregg Popovich announced before Wednesday night's 115-104 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Spurs are engaged on several fronts with potential trades for Aldridge and believe they can find a deal -- perhaps even in the next week -- and avoid the need to negotiate a contract buyout, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

If there's no trade for Aldridge before the March 25 trade deadline expires and a contract buyout does come into play, many of the league's top teams are privately expressing interest in adding him as a free agent, sources said.

Aldridge, 35, a seven-time All-Star, has been given permission to "work on some opportunities elsewhere," although he officially remains on the Spurs' roster for now. He has an expiring contract with a $24 million salary.

"He's been a great teammate. No problem there," Popovich said during his virtual pregame media availability. "We just think this is a win-win for both LaMarcus and the club. When an opportunity arises, that'll be up to management, his agent and that sort of thing, and we'll all move forward."

Aldridge missed eight of the Spurs' final 11 games before the All-Star break due to hip and quadriceps injuries. He came off the bench in the three games he played during that stretch, playing as a reserve for the first time since he was a rookie with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2006-07. In Aldridge's last game with the Spurs, he scored two points in 15 minutes in a 124-113 overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets on March 1.

The Spurs won six of the eight games that Aldridge sat out before the break. Wednesday's loss dropped them to 18-15, putting them in seventh place in the Western Conference standings.

Aldridge has averaged 13.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game this season, shooting 46.4% from the floor and 36% from 3-point range. His scoring average and minutes are his lowest since his rookie year.

"He's done everything we've asked," Popovich said. "At this point, we'd just like to do something that will work for him as much for our club, because he deserves that."

Aldridge averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during five and a half seasons with the Spurs, whom he signed with in free agency after spending the first nine seasons of his career in Portland.

TAMPA, Fla. -- A sports gambler faces up to five years in federal prison for sending threatening social media messages to players with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Benjamin Tucker Patz, 24, of Napa, California, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Tampa federal court to transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce, according to court records. No sentencing date was immediately set.

Patz was initially charged last year. He had made numerous violent threats in 2019 against athletes and their family members through anonymous Instagram accounts, according to a criminal complaint. In many messages, Patz threatened to enter the athletes' homes and behead them or their family members, the FBI said. Some of Patz's threats also contained derogatory terms and racial slurs, investigators said.

The Tampa Bay Rays lost a home baseball game in July 2019 to the Chicago White Sox. An account linked to Patz later sent threatening Instagram messages to four players for the Rays and one player for the White Sox, according to authorities. None of the players was identified by name, only initials.

"Your family will be beheaded,'' said one of the messages, quoted in the criminal complaint.

Patz, who resides in New York and California, goes by the moniker "Parlay Patz." FBI investigators said they found online articles that claimed he had won more than $1 million shortly before his arrest by wagering on sports events.

Though Wednesday's guilty plea relates specifically to the Rays threats, investigators said Patz had been sending violent messages to athletes for about a year before his arrest. After losing $10,000 by betting on the Los Angeles Rams to win the 2019 Super Bowl, Patz sent messages to two players on the game's winning team, the New England Patriots, claiming that he would rape and murder their families, officials said.

The complaint also listed threats against players for the Atlanta Braves, the San Diego Padres, the Oakland Athletics, the Cleveland Indians, the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals. One of Patz's accounts also threatened a player for the Swedish women's soccer team after it beat Germany in the Women's World Cup quarterfinal in June 2019, investigators said.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco is uncertain to be ready for the start of the season after elbow soreness forced him to stop throwing.

New York manager Luis Rojas said the right-hander, who turns 34 on March 21, started spring training workouts behind other players after receiving additional medical evaluation. Carrasco is in remission from leukemia and had the novel coronavirus vaccine.

"He's been experiencing some body aches because of the second vaccine that he got yesterday, so we've been paying close attention to that with him. But also he's experienced some soreness in his elbow right now, apparently coming from the live BP (batting practice) that he threw the other day," Rojas said Wednesday. "Right now, this is nothing too concerning from a medical standpoint. So he's just going to take a few days off without throwing, and we expect him to be back maybe by the end of next week facing live batters."

Carrasco was traded by Cleveland with All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor on Jan. 7 for young infielders Andres Gimenez and Amed Rosario along with a pair of minor league prospects: right-hander Josh Wolf and outfielder Isaiah Greene.

Carrasco is projected to be part of rotation with two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson.

"He is making this sound like it's something that's happened before and then he just goes through it, some elbow soreness, and gets right back on the mound," Rojas said.

New York opens April 1 at Washington and Rojas said it's too early to determine whether Carrasco can build up his arm by the first turn in the rotation.

Carrasco missed three months of the 2019 season while fighting leukemia. He pitched through the coronavirus pandemic, going 3-4 in 12 starts with a 2.91 ERA, his best since a career-best 2.55 ERA in 2014, when he split time between Cleveland's rotation and bullpen. He has an 88-73 career record with a 3.73 ERA.

Carrasco is signed at $12 million for each of the next two seasons, part of a deal that includes a $14 million team option for 2023 with a $3 million buyout. The option would become guaranteed if he pitches 170 innings in 2022 and is found to be healthy for the 2023 season.

"We'd rather [be] on the cautious side always and make sure that we're safe for the long run. This year, we're playing a marathon again. We want Cookie to be healthy," Rojas said. "If it got to come to a question where the health is going to be compromised, I think we're going to be on the safe side starting the season, of course."

Roger Federer beat Britain's Dan Evans on his comeback after 14 months out through injury but said he had not played pain-free.

He had not played competitively since January 2020 after two knee surgeries.

"It feels good to be back. It's good to be standing here regardless of whether I won or lost, it's great fun," Federer said.

"I don't know if it was ever completely pain-free," he added. "You get to feel tired and you don't know if it's the muscle.

"[What's] important is how I feel tomorrow and the next day for the next six months."

After a tight first set, Evans won four successive points in the tie-break to lead 4-2. But Federer fought back to level the scores before taking the set with magnificent backhand cross-court pass.

Evans, who had lost all three of his previous career meetings with Federer, capitalised on a series of errors from the Swiss in the fourth game of the second set to break serve and move 3-1 ahead, before taking the set 6-3 to force a decider.

The deciding set was much closer and went with serve until the 12th game, when Federer broke Evans' serve for the first time in the match to seal victory in front of a socially distanced crowd at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.

"Dan had more energy left at the end but I thought I played a good match and I'm incredibly happy with my performance," the Swiss said.

Federer, a three-time winner of the event, will play Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in the last eight.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Four hundred and five days after his last appearance, Federer recorded the 1,243rd win of his career.

For a car that has been off the road for so long, the motor was ticking over incredibly well.

Federer has always had the ability to pick up pretty much where he left off, and he played an outstanding first set built around that rock-solid serve.

His performance did become a little more patchy as the match wore on - something the 39-year-old blamed primarily on footwork - but this was a fabulous start against an opponent who played well, and already has an ATP title to his name this year.

It was an "easy decision" for England's players to share their fees and ensure fringe members were paid the same for the Six Nations, says Ben Youngs.

Usually, players outside the 23 matchday squad would not receive a full match fee of about £17,000.

"Everyone is in it together. It is an easy decision," Youngs told BBC Sport.

"Only 23 get to take the field but that doesn't mean that only 23 are training hard and doing everything they can to prep the team.

"Everyone is pulling their weight to make this team as good as they can."

Scrum-half Youngs, according to a report in the Times, is part of a five-player committee who unanimously voted on the new pay structure.

The newspaper adds that the new deal will mean that each player in the squad will receive about £15,000 per match, regardless of if they play or not.

England's players agreed to take a year-long 25% pay cut in September in light of the reduction of Rugby Football Union revenue from ticket sales and other matchday activities.

England, whose title defence is all but over after defeats by Wales and Scotland in the opening three rounds, meet France at Twickenham on Saturday.

England polish up on referee etiquette

England attack coach Simon Amor says England have been working on their etiquette around referees after giving up 41 penalties in their first three games.

Captain Owen Farrell was unable to convince French referee Pascal Gauzere that Wales were given an unfair advantage as a quickly-taken penalty resulted in the opening score in the defeat in Cardiff.

Test referees Wayne Barnes and Matt Carley have been at England training this week to help England improve their disciplinary record.

"There are certain questions from the players around how they ask a question of a referee in a game," explained Amor

"What is the way, what about the timing, when do I approach someone?

"There are also constant discussions between players and referees about where is the law, what can we do, what can't we do, so we looked for clarification on that."

Amor also revealed that head coach Eddie Jones offered his players an amnesty, telling them to come forward and approach him if they felt they gave away an avoidable penalty.

"The guys were very honest and going straight to Eddie about which ones they got wrong," Amor added. "The way they have taken on that individual responsibility has been excellent."

CONCORD, N.C. – Chip Ganassi Racing announced Wednesday that the Moose Fraternity will join the organization as a primary partner on the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Ross Chastain.

The partnership is a continuation for Moose and Chastain, who began a relationship with the fraternal order last year for three races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and one Cup Series race.

The partnership includes several primary races as well as associate sponsorship for the Moose Fraternity on the No. 42 car.

Additionally, through social media content and select events at lodges around the country, CGR will help to amplify the message of the Moose Fraternity to race fans.

“We’re excited for the Moose Fraternity to team up again with Ross Chastain and expand on their partnership that began last year in the Xfinity Series,” said Doug Duchardt, COO, Chip Ganassi Racing. “We look forward to growing the relationship between CGR and the Moose throughout the season and helping to amplify their message to race fans across the country.”

The Moose Fraternity, headquartered in Mooseheart, Ill., has a membership of nearly 1,000,000 men and women throughout the roughly 1,300 lodges across 49 states, four Canadian provinces, and Great Britain.

Members are involved in civic and charitable service in their communities, in addition to supporting the operation of Mooseheart Child City & School, a 1,000-acre community for children and teens in need, located 40 miles west of Chicago; and Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community for members near Jacksonville, Fla.

“We were very pleased with our partnership with Ross Chastain in 2020 as he represented the Fraternity in a very positive way and are excited to continue that relationship this year,” noted Scott Hart, CEO, Moose International. “He, along with Chip Ganassi Racing, projects the same values that we have as an organization and certainly supports our core missions, especially giving children in need a second chance at life.”

Chastain isn’t just the driver of the No. 42 Moose Chevrolet, he’s also a Moose member.

Through his partnership in the Xfinity Series with the Moose Fraternity last year, Chastain became a member of the fraternal order. During the NASCAR season, Chastain and the team will continue to share the virtues of membership and encourage fans to learn more about the Moose Fraternity and their local lodges.

“I really enjoyed getting to know the team from the Moose Fraternity last season and was honored to be made a member of the Order, and it’s great to welcome them to Chip Ganassi Racing and the No. 42 team in the Cup Series,” said Chastain. “Their members do a lot of good work in communities across the country, and with everything going on I can’t think of a better time to help promote what the Moose do and who they are.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Ross Chastain will reunite with Niece Motorsports to pilot the No. 44 CircleBDiecast.com Chevrolet Silverado during the March 20 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Racing is what I love to do, so anytime I can come race in the Truck Series, I’m excited to do it,” said Chastain. “A huge thank you to Chip and everyone at Ganassi for allowing me to come race with Niece Motorsports. I enjoy working with the group at Niece Motorsports, they always have fast Chevrolets ready to go. I’m looking forward to contending for a win, because we had such a strong truck in this race last year.”

The paint scheme Chastain will pilot pays homage to Terry Labonte’s Piedmont Airlines car, which Labonte – a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion – drove for car owner Billy Hagan from 1984-’86 at the top level of American stock car racing.

Niece Motorsports and Chastain have strong ties – Chastain earned the organization’s first victory at Kansas Speedway in May 2019.

He earned two additional wins in 2019 on his way to a runner-up finish in the driver’s championship.

“Ross has done so much for this organization, we’re excited any time we can get him back in a truck,” said Niece Motorsports general manager Cody Efaw. “Every time Ross gets in a truck you know you’re going to get his best effort. Our whole organization has been working as hard as we can to build great trucks for all four teams, so we are looking forward to a successful weekend in Atlanta.”

Plan B Sales was founded in 2010 with the goal of bringing service to dealers that carry licensed motorsports product. Plan B Sales started as a Lionel diecast and Chase Authentics apparel distributor.

Over the last few years Plan B Sales has grown into the largest account for Lionel, servicing the motorsports market, and has expanded its product offerings.

Plan B Sales quickly became the choice of dealers for a stocking one-stop distributor. Its product offering also includes Auto World, Greenlight Collectibles, BrandArt and are the exclusive distributor for University of Racing product lines.

Last September, Plan B Sales elected to split its wholesale and retail business into two different websites to better serve each segment of customers, effectively launching CircleBDiecast.com.

Why would an iconic company like Porsche end factory support in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTLM class when it was on a roll?

To wit, CORE Autosport won the 2019 class championship and despite some bad breaks, took the checkered flag in the last three races of the 2020 season.

Then, there’s the fact that Porsches have been a motorsports mainstay in both professional and Sports Car Club of America club racing, not to mention Porsche Club of America competition, for decades.

SPEED SPORT spoke with Pascal Zurlinden, Porsche’s head of Motorsport Factory programs about where the company has been and where it’s going.

Porsche’s past in the U.S. is impressive.

“Porsche has a big history in America,” Zerlinden said. “It’s like the DNA of our brand to go endurance racing particularly at Le Mans, but in America it has been huge for us and one big thing for us were the Group C cars (962 prototypes) of the ’80s and ’90s when you see many Porsches were at the top and on the grids in the U.S.”

Although the company ended its factory support in GTLM, it will have a strong presence on  IMSA starting grids this season. Zurlinden says Porsche’s presence will be in two classes.

“This year we will not only be present in the Carrera Cup, you will also see customers running in the GTD class, the GT4 class and in GTLM but only for one race at Daytona,” Zurlinden said. “Our presence in IMSA was more than the factory teams. Last year, we only had one car, but without saying too much we could have three to four customer cars for the full season in GTD.”

The Carrera Cup is a Porsche-only racing series. Like GTD, it’s a “spec” class and all cars are identical with no modifications allowed.

It’s a “ladder” class, a place for younger or inexperienced drivers to strut their stuff in hopes an established team will “call them up from the minors,” so to speak.

Speaking of one such class, Canadian Pfaff Motorsports is a regular in GTD. Pfaff has a rich history of developing up-and-coming Canadian drivers. Although the team’s 2021 driver lineup is set (Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor and Zach Robichon), crew chief Steve Bortolotti always has his eye on promising recruits.

Bartolotti is upbeat about Porsche’s new strategy and the season ahead.

“It’s great for customer racing for Porsche to be at the forefront in North America and it gives competitors more resources, not financial but in terms of drivers and technical support for customer teams,” Bartolotti said. “It’s a great move for Porsche retooling themselves back to their customers. It’s a great strategy as it pertains to us.”

Bartolotti points to the task at hand — winning in a very competitive class.

“GTD is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the most competitive GTD/GT3 platforms in the world,” he explained. “It’s the competiveness among the teams and drivers and the sheer length of some of the races. It makes it one of the hardest championships to win.”

The proof is the teeter-totter championship contest during last year’s season finale at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway.

Wright Motorsports, a stalwart GTD team, had a strong 2020 season. The team finished just two points behind the class champions, with four podiums and eight top-five finishes. Team principal John Wright isn’t changing a thing for the new season.

“We’re thrilled to be back for another year with the same group we had for 2020,” Wright said. “Consistency was a big part of our success last year and we’re starting off 2021 on the right foot by continuing with our proven formula. From the drivers, to the crew and sponsors, we really created a great organization. I’m proud to have Wright Motorsports back for another year with all these people and partners.”

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