After recent warm-up sightings by Topic, the Thunder mentor gave positive news around the Serbian sensation.
Nikola Topic has made promising appearances recently for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Weeks after it was announced that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, the Serbian prospect showed up plenty of times in the team's warmup sessions.
Just this month, Topic was seen twice participating in the Thunder's shooting drills. While his bald appearance was noticeable, he's still actively engaged and moving well.
In Oklahoma City's Saturday media session after practice, coach Mark Daigneault gave his thoughts on the progress that Topic has made thus far.
"I'm not going to give details on what's a private matter," Daigneault said of Topic. "But at the end of the day, he’s doing a great job navigating what’s obviously a tough circumstance. Despite the fact that your body goes through hell in that situation, he’s still conditioning himself.
"He’s still finding the time to work out, which is not easy to do when you’re going through that. What it puts your body through anyway is hard. To push yourself as a professional athlete is even harder."
What Topic is going through right now is truly unimaginable. He hasn't made his NBA debut yet after being drafted No. 12 overall by OKC last year, wherein he was sidelined for the entire 2024-25 season due to a torn ACL injury.
And just when he was about to kickstart his rookie campaign this 2025-26, he faced another huge setback upon being diagnosed with cancer.
For now, Daigneault and the entire Thunder group have their full support in the ongoing recovery process of Topic.
"He's handling this the same way he's always handled everything we've ever seen, which is with unbelievable professionalism, maturity and mental toughness," Daigneault said. "All the things that he has exhibited to this point are being tested, and he's passing the test."
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