Robin Lopez seems like a pretty nice guy, all things considered. The 33-year-old big man for the Orlando Magic has been a steady hand on the court for the duration of his NBA career and has endeared himself to fans for his big personality off of it. Despite that, Lopez has a well-documented problem with mascots, with the latest example of this coming on Wednesday night when the Magic traveled to Washington to take on the Wizards.
Lopez suited up for the Wizards last season and is very familiar with the team’s mascot, G-Wiz. With Lopez’s birthday a few days away — he was born on April 1 — G-Wiz decided to pull a fast one and say it got something for “my favorite Lopez bro.” A moment later, G-Wiz revealed another sign that said “can you give this to Brook?”
In response, Lopez took the gift he was handed and flattened the mascot before getting some love from RJ Hampton.
I just wanted to give @rolopez42 an early birthday present
…for Brook
pic.twitter.com/GoGJ8rhMmn— G-Wiz (@WizardsGWiz) March 31, 2022
Lopez and G-Wiz have a long relationship, with the big man once saying that “G-Wiz has always kind of been on my top-five probably most-despised mascot list. So, I don’t know if I’ll be able to reach out the olive branch out to him or if he will even want to reach it out to me.” The good news for all parties involved is the Magic and Wizards do not play again this year, so there will be time for tensions between the two to simmer down.