At Thursday’s shootaround, Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti announced that rookie guard Nikola Topic has been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
It was announced weeks ago that Topic has a testicular procedure at the beginning of training camp, though no other details were released outside of his eventual return timeline, which was initially four to six weeks. Presti said the procedure, done at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, was necessary to determine if Topic had testicular cancer, and that the biopsy confirmed that is the case.
“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,” Presti said.
Presti noted that testicular cancer is the most cured form of cancer among males, and that the treatment recommended to Topic moving forward will be chemotherapy.
“[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, as the team is prioritizing his health. Presti said there are no expectations to return to basketball as of now.
“[Topic] is a really remarkable, remarkable guy,” Presti said. “I think everybody knows that, that’s been around him. Extraordinarily mature, composed, resiliant. He has all the tools that you could ask for somebody to take on and conquer the situation.”
Topic was drafted at No. 12 in the 2024 NBA Draft, and missed his initial season due to a knee injury suffered prior to the draft. He played for the Thunder in Summer League, and once in the preseason slate before undergoing his procedure.