It’s been a long road to recovery for Oklahoma City Thunder’s Nikola Topic.
The Serbian guard made his NBA debut Thursday night, coming off the bench to a standing ovation to play against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Subject returns to the field after recovering from a serious knee injury and treatment for testicular cancer.
Has rarely played basketball since the 2024 draft
Topic hasn’t seen much action on the court since being picked 12th by the Thunder in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard missed his first full NBA season with Oklahoma City since the draft due to a torn ACL.
Topic returned to action last summer to play in Summer League and a few preseason games. However, he was sidelined again in October after announcing he would undergo chemotherapy for testicular cancer.
“Thank you for all your support, I will come back even stronger,” wrote Topic on Instagram at the time.
A standing ovation
Nearly two years after the draft, Topic made his debut in front of a home crowd at the Paycom Center with 1:55 left in the first quarter. He went 1 of 3 from the field, scoring his first official points in the NBA, in 12 minutes.
Topic also had a rebound and an assist in the Thunder’s 110-93 loss to Milwaukee.
Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault told media earlier this week that he was “excited” to see Topic “play basketball.”
“I know he missed it a lot, and it’s so good for him mentally to get his feet back under him,” Daigneault said, according to Sports Network.
“I just can’t say enough about him as a guy, his mental toughness, his maturity, his resilience. … He hasn’t played much basketball in the last couple of years, and he comes out of a year-long rehab and immediately has a surprising diagnosis and goes through three rounds of chemotherapy.
“So for him to get back on the field is just an incredible accomplishment, and we’re incredibly happy for him,” the coach said.
— With files from The Associated Press.
