Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic has been diagnosed with testicular cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
Sam Presti, the team’s general manager, announced the diagnosis Thursday.
The subject, 20 years old, underwent testicular surgery earlier this month. The Thunder said at the time he would be out for at least four weeks.
Presti said doctors were “extremely positive” about his long-term prospects. He said Topic worked through the process and did not want the diagnosis to be revealed until treatment began.
“He has all the tools you could ask for someone to face and overcome the situation,” Presti said.
Topic, a 2024 first-round pick, missed the entire 2024-25 season while recovering from a torn ACL.
He played in summer league this year and started a preseason game against Charlotte, posting 10 points and seven assists in Oklahoma City’s 135-114 win.
Topic was expected to be an important addition to a team that otherwise changed very little after winning the NBA title last season.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic diagnosed with testicular cancer
Presti: The subject has all our support, encouragement and love
Speaking on the matter, Presti said: “I would like to provide an update on Nikola Topic’s health. I think, as everyone knows, he underwent testicular surgery at the very beginning of training camp.
“This procedure was necessary and performed at MD Anderson in Houston to determine if Nikola had a case of testicular cancer.
“The procedure was necessary to do a biopsy. The biopsy results have been returned and he is facing a case of testicular cancer. Now he has a wonderful group of oncologists, both at OU and MD Anderson, and they are extremely positive about his outlook on the situation.
“It is important to note that testicular cancer is the most cured form of cancer in men, but the treatment option for him at present, as recommended by the oncologist, is chemotherapy.
“Tope (Subject) didn’t want to make this information public until he started treatments, which he did recently. He’s been here, he’s been training, he’s been training. Throughout this whole process, he’s been able to do it.
“But as we all know, it would be a difficult treatment process to go through. But the team of doctors around him, as I said before, are extremely positive about his long-term prospects.
“As far as our expectations of him or anything like that, our only expectations of him are to focus on that. That’s his biggest priority.
“He’ll come back and play basketball when he’s able to, but we obviously don’t expect anything from that. He has all of our support and encouragement and love.
“The guys on the team have been incredible. Tope is a truly remarkable, remarkable guy. I think everyone knows that.
“This makes him extraordinarily mature, calm and resilient. He has all the tools you could ask for from someone to take on and overcome the situation.
“And we just want to make sure that we deal with this issue as best we can, but we also appeal to everyone to recognize that this is a private matter. And he needs to focus on that right now and not on basketball.”
