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Thunder executives talk about Nikola Topic after his diagnosis

Sam Presti and Jalen Williams talk in superlatives about Nikola Topic after his diagnosis.

Oklahoma City Thunder is awaiting this weekend's NBA Cup showdown against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Whilst they are breaking the records of the league this season, they are still missing an important young piece.

After Nikola Topic missed the whole last season with a torn ACL, he is yet to debut in the NBA.

During this training camp it was discovered that he suffers from testicular cancer.

Sam Presti gave a quick update regarding Topic's situation:

"Current plan is for him to keep going with his recovery and stay where he is. It's a serious thing, but he's fighting with it, as much as a young 18, 19-year old can get on the end with it. He showed enormous maturity after that injury last season that caused him to miss a lot of time."

"There is a lot of 'invisible' work, a lot of days where he needs to work, and he showcased that he can fight through all these things. He's an amazing person, has a strong character, doesn't want everything to revolve around him."

"When he's around the team he's doing a great job, to be as physically good as possible when he returns, he's good with teammates, they are good with him too," Presti concluded.

Jalen Williams also spoke about Topic:

"I have a lot of respect for Top. He's young, still there, working, shooting, that's unbelievable. That you are so young, so mature and full of self-confidence," Williams started.

"We're trying to make everything easier for him when he's here, he's calm about the whole situation, he's not feeling sorry for himself, it all still feels a bit surreal. I'm proud of him, hope he will return soon, I have a lot of respect for him," he concluded.

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