Racially charged phrase caused tension in team meeting66-year-old says he meant to call his players ‘slugs’The Cleveland Cavaliers coach, John Beilein, has apologised to his players after describing them as a “bunch of thugs” during a team meeting on Wednesday.
![Cavaliers coach Beilein sorry after calling his players a bunch of thugs](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7e2da93e1b4c8c36f2ab998237dc6df3cdcb28ef/0_76_4159_2496/master/4159.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f64df8eb2d39bbc90026aa3738559cfb)
Sources told
ESPN that the room became hushed after Beilein used the description, and several players were visibly uncomfortable. The 66-year-old coach, who is white, later acknowledged the effect of using a racially loaded phrase to describe a group of young black men, although he insisted he had meant to say “slugs”.