Leafs Goalie Jonathan Bernier Mistakes Nelson Mandela For Star Athlete Who He Watched When He Was Younger.

The Toronto Raptors honored the late Nelson Mandela On Friday night at an event called The Giant of Africa. Many stars were in attendance to watch The Raptors play the Cleveland Cavilers, and to honor the great Nelson Mandela. NBA legends in the house were Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Charles Barkley, Dikembe Mutombo and All-Star Tracy McGrady, who was being honored by the Raptors and Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum. Also there was members of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan and Goaltender Jonathan Bernier. During an interview with the goalie the reporter asked him this" Alright Jonathan, how important is uh, the legacy of Nelson Mandela to you? Bernier replied with this statement "  well obviously he's been,uh, a tremendous athlete , and you know obviously  what,uh, he means to all the sports its pretty amazing. And I think he's definitely uh got a lot of respect in every sports and uh he's definitely one of the athletes I watched growing up as a kid. Mandela wasn't exactly a professional athlete, but he was an armature boxer who ran two hours a day. In my opinion, I think that Bernier should've just said he didn't know who the guy was. He could've saved himself a lot of grief. 

Jonathan Bernier