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Robin Lopez Promises to Do His ‘Own Research’ on Brother Brook’s Championship Win

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: a good quip from the NBA’s funniest player, an incredible college soccer goal and more.

He’s just asking questions

There were a lot of questions being asked at NBA media day Monday, and not just by members of the press. 

The biggest topic of conversation as training camps begin has been players’ vaccination status. An overwhelming majority of players (reportedly 90%) have been vaccinated against COVID-19, but it’s the minority of unvaccinated players who are drawing the bulk of the attention. 

Andrew Wiggins tried and failed to receive a vaccine exemption from the NBA on religious grounds. Kyrie Irving attended the Nets' media day remotely and refused to disclose his vaccination status. Bradley Beal also hasn’t gotten the vaccine for what he says are personal reasons.

“You can’t necessarily force anybody or kind of say it’s time for a vaccine,” Beal told reporters. “I think you kind of let people come into their own about it. If they do their research when they feel comfortable, they do it.”

Skeptics love to “do their own research” into topics with a well-established consensus. (Irving used the very same line in a 2017 interview about his endorsement of the flat Earth conspiracy.) And Beal isn’t the only NBA player looking to uncover the truth. Magic big man Robin Lopez told reporters in Orlando on Monday that he’s going to look into whether his brother Brook really won a championship with the Bucks last year. 

“I’m still not sure that Milwaukee won the championship,” Lopez said. “I wasn’t there. I didn’t watch the game myself. So, I guess I’ll go off the basis of, there’s got to be some kind of proof. I’m gonna do my own research and figure out if they won it.”

I’m sure Lopez could go on YouTube and find some guy “just asking questions” about whether the Suns really won the series, but it’s important to check that your sources are reputable when doing your own research. If you seek out information from official, verified sources and use that to reach a decision, you’ll end up making the right one.

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Free Gary!

A good song

Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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