Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

Re: Is this defamation or slander?

No. This is likely a non-actionable statement of opinion. Even if it were defamatory, how have you been damaged financially from this alleged "false statement of fact?"

Re: Is this defamation or slander?

Neither.

(By the way, I presume that you are complaining about being called "lazy" and not about being called a "white person". Either way my answer would be no, but my analysis would be somewhat different if laziness wasn't the only part of the statement that offended you.)

Slander is a particular type of defamation and not a separate concept. A defamatory statement is slanderous if it is made verbally or libelous if it is made in writing. Other than that the two causes of action are essentially the same.

To qualify as slander a statement must be heard by others and must lower their opinion of the person the statement describes. An accusation made directly to the person accused that isn't heard by any third parties is not slanderous. I presume that some of the other players heard what this man said, but I want to make this point for the benefit of other readers.

Another element of slander is that the statement must be one of fact rather than of opinion. This gentleman was just expressing his opinion. Statements of opinion sometimes imply that the speaker has facts to back them up, but there is no precise definition of lazy, so his statement was not about facts and could not be so understood by the other players.

Besides, his assessment of you was probably based on watching you play. Since the others who heard him also watched you play, they can form their own opinions about whether you are lazy. His statement probably did not affect the other players' opinions of you at all.

Re: Is this defamation or slander?

Certainly, it's a racist statement since it implies that non-white people are lazy. He obviously thought your negative commentary on his skill level deserved a retort. I suggest that you include him in the game -- maybe one-on-one -- and see whose skill level is superior.