San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Danny Green has sparked controversy by posting a selfie while visiting the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

The NBA player was in Germany with his teammates for an exhibition match, but took some time to visit the memorial honouring the six million Jews who were killed under the Nazi regime.

Along with the image, Green posted the message: "You know I had to do it one time lol #Holocaust."

He then swiftly changed the caption to: "A lot of history here, more than you could imagine...very sad/tragic things happened #holocaust #berlin."

After receiving widespread criticism for his tweet, Green returned to the social networking website to apologise by saying: "I want to sincerely apologize for the insensitivity of my post!

"I have great respect n understanding for this country's history n wanted to continue chronicling my experience in Berlin. But showed poor judgement...sorry once again."

Spurs lost 94-93 to Alba Berlin in the exhibition match.