Earlier this season, on October 30, the Oklahoma City Thunder announcement This rookie guard Nikola Topic was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The OKC Thunder selected Topic with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft after a torn ACL sidelined him for the entire 2024-25 season.
When Sam Presti announced this unfortunate news, he informed that this process would involve chemotherapy, although it is the most treatable form of cancer. It’s an unimaginable thing to experience at any time, but especially at a young age and following an injury.
However, throughout the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder players and coaches have excited aboutt Topic’s mentality while fighting this and how much they supported the point guard throughout this process.
Since then, the lottery pick has been spotted on the Paycom Center hardwood hours before the start of several games in progress. He tries to balance recovery with his basketball career. During weekend practice, OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was asked about media spotting Topic practicing before games.
“He’s doing a great job in an obviously difficult situation. Even though the body is going through hell in this situation, it continues to condition itself,” Daigneault said. “He still finds time to train, which is not easy to do when you’re going through that. What it does to your body is tough anyway. Pushing yourself as a professional athlete is even harder.”
You can only imagine how difficult it is to navigate, even from a purely conditional perspective, as Daigneault points out, the impact of chemotherapy on your body is a loss of energy and strength. Seeing Topic go through this and be on the ground is an impressive and inspiring sight.
“He’s handling this the same way he’s always handled everything we’ve seen,” Daigneault said, “which is with incredible professionalism, maturity and mental toughness. All the things he’s demonstrated so far are being tested, and he’s passing the test.”
The topic is only 20 years old, but no matter who you ask about the Thunder point guard, maturity is the word that always comes up. He is wise beyond his years and this wisdom and mental strength, as Daigneault points out, are essential in the face of these unthinkable circumstances.
It’s unclear when Topic will be able to play NBA basketball again, but the updates remain encouraging from a personal perspective.
Mark Daigneault on Nikola Topic doing pregame warmups while undergoing cancer treatment: “He’s doing a great job in what is obviously a difficult circumstance. Despite the fact that your body is going through hell in that situation, it’s still conditioning.” pic.twitter.com/hjWH4ve8AO
– Clémente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) December 27, 2025
