By The Eurohoops team / [email protected]
Sam Presti, general manager of Oklahoma City Thunderannounced that Nikola Topic was suffering from testicular cancer.
The Serbian point guard, who has suffered from injuries during his short career, is undergoing testicular surgery.
“He had a testicular procedure early in training camp. That surgery was necessary to determine if Nikola had a case of testicular cancer, and the biopsy results came back and it was testicular cancer.”
Presti also had “good” news regarding his case.
“He has a wonderful group of oncologists and they are extremely positive. It’s important to note that testicular cancer is the most cured cancer in men. He was recommended to undergo chemotherapy.”
The general director of Oklahoma City Thunder also announced that he had already started this treatment.
“Topić did not want to disclose this information until he started treatment, which he did recently.”
As expected, basketball is not the priority right now.
“He is there throughout the whole process, from training, but we are all aware that it will be a demanding process. The medical team is positive about the long-term outcome. Right now, his recovery is the only priority. The only thing we expect from him is to focus on that. That is the priority. He will come back and play basketball when he can, we have no expectations on that. He has all our support, love and encouragement.”
In June 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder selected Topić with the 12th overall pick in the NBA Draft. But just weeks before the draft, he suffered a partially torn ACL during the European playoffs, a devastating setback that kept him sidelined for months and prevented him from ever making his NBA debut again.
