Nikola Topic was selected 12th overall by Oklahoma City in the 2024 NBA Draft. (Photo: X)
Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has confirmed that rookie guard Nikola Topic has been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Speaking at the team’s shootaround on Thursday, Presti said the diagnosis followed a procedure Topic underwent at the start of training camp at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. The operation, initially described only as a testicular procedure, was conducted to determine whether the Serbian player had cancer.
“The biopsy confirmed that is the case,” Presti said.
Topic, 19, will undergo chemotherapy as part of his treatment. Presti said the rookie is being treated by oncologists at both MD Anderson and the University of Oklahoma, and that doctors are “extremely positive about his outlook.”
“He has a tremendous group of oncologists both at OU, at MD Anderson, and they are extremely positive about his outlook in dealing with this situation,” he added.
Presti noted that testicular cancer is among the most curable forms of cancer in men but said the team’s priority is Topic’s health rather than a return date.
“[Topic] didn’t want to make this information public until he had begun the actual treatments, which he has,” Presti said. “He’s been in here, he’s training, he’s working out through this entire process. As we all know, this would be a challenging treatment process to go through.”
There is currently no timetable for Topic’s return to basketball.
“[Topic] is a really remarkable, remarkable guy,” Presti said. “Extraordinarily mature, composed, resilient. He has all the tools that you could ask for somebody to take on and conquer the situation.”
Topic was selected 12th overall by Oklahoma City in the 2024 NBA Draft. He missed his first season due to a knee injury sustained before the draft but appeared in the Summer League and once during the preseason before undergoing the recent procedure.