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NBA Fines Gilbert Arenas and Washington Wizards $25,000 each

File this story under Silence isn’t golden.

The NBA is making Gilbert Arenas — and the Washington Wizards — pay for his silence.

Arenas and his team were fined $25,000 apiece Tuesday by the league because he has not been talking to the media during the preseason, including before and after exhibition games.

The three-time All-Star point guard became one of the NBA’s most popular players thanks in part to his engaging personality and a willingness to speak his mind, including via a wide-ranging blog.

But he stopped producing the blog and steadfastly has been refusing to do interviews since the Wizards held their official media day on Sept. 28. Asked by a reporter last week when he’d begin speaking again, Arenas said it would happen only after the NBA tells him he has to talk.

It was at that media day that Arenas signaled his intention to keep quiet, declaring, “I’m not the entertainer anymore.”

Since when is an athlete required to talk to the media. Sports has a long history of stars who have avoided the media. Is there some NBA rule I don’t know about?

 
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