Jonathan Bernier apologizes after embarrassing comments about Mandela!

Jonathan Bernier was asked about Nelson Mandela this week end and his response drew a ton of attention and criticism. In fact the reaction to Bernier's comments was so negative that the Raptors were forced to pull the video of Bernier from their  YouTube channel in an attempt to do damage control. The video is no longer visible but Bernier's called Mandela:

“a tremendous athlete,” and said  “he’s definitely one of the athletes I watched growing up as well.”

Bernier believed Mandela was an athlete and not former South African president and former revolutionary who not only spent years in captivity but helped end the Apartheid  in South Africa. Despite the Raptors best efforts the video made the round, and although most have been taken down, transcripts of the incident are now widely available. Today Jonathan Bernier issued a public apology:

“I’m embarrassed, I didn’t mean to offend him, his legacy. I got flustered with the red carpet and I was nervous. I think everyone makes mistakes and that was me that night.”

I have no reason to doubt Bernier, I don't believe  he meant anything malicious when he spoke of Mandela as an athlete, and I'm sure his apology is sincere. He will likely do a little more prep work before attending an event of the sort in the future.