This paper does not go to great lengths to hedge its statements, and the authors have very explicitly stated on numerous occasions that their work rules out the lab leak idea.
> An epicenter is NOT where a thing started, and it's not in any doubt to even the most die-hard conspiracy theorists that the market was "the early epicenter".
The paper addresses this. First, the fact that multiple strains of the virus were found directly in the market is a very strong indication that there were multiple spillover events at the market. Second, it has now been established that wild animals that are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 were being sold at the market during the time period when the outbreak began. This is a big deal, because this is exactly how the original SARS spilled over in 2002. Third, the concentration of cases at and around the market, but not around the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is also strong evidence that the spillover was associated with the market, not the lab. If it were in the lab, there would likely be a cluster of cases at the lab itself, and in the surrounding areas where people from the lab frequent, not on the other side of the city, where wild animals that have caused previous SARS coronavirus outbreaks happen to be sold.
People who have followed the scientific investigations into the origins of SARS-CoV-2 over the past 2.5 years know that the lab leak theory was always highly unlikely, and that all the evidence that has come to light has made it ever more unlikely. At this point, lab leakers (or at least those who are trying to keep their theories halfway consistent) are trying to argue that the virus somehow got from the lab to the market, where it began spreading. Their theories are becoming more convoluted and contrived as the evidence rules out each version of the theory, and it's getting a bit absurd.
A lot of people want to believe the lab leak theory. Scrolling through the comments here, there is a substantial overlap between this group and anti-vaxxers, as well as other people who oppose any efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus. I don't think people are clinging to this theory for rational reasons.