Nikola Topic #44 of the Oklahoma City Thunder poses for a portrait during media day at Paycom Center on September 29, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Nikola Topic.
Oklahoma City Thunder prospect Nikola Topic returned to basketball Monday night following a year-long knee injury and a testicular cancer diagnosis
Topic was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the start of the 2025 NBA season
Topic made his season debut with the organization's G-League team on Feb. 9 after successfully completing his cancer treatment
After a year-long knee injury followed by a cancer diagnosis, NBA prospect Nikola Topic was back on a basketball court on Monday, Feb. 9.
The 20-year-old Serbian basketball player made his NBA G-League debut for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s developmental team, the Oklahoma City Blue, scoring seven points with seven assists in the team’s 137-135 overtime win over the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
It was a moment years in the making for Topic, who was drafted 12th overall by the Thunder in the 2024 NBA Draft. The highly touted prospect had torn a ligament in his knee two months before the draft, meaning the Thunder had to wait nearly a year for their draft pick to begin playing for its G-League developmental team last season, according to The Associated Press.
However, just several games into the 2025 season, Topic was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti said Topic remained active and trained during his chemotherapy treatments, PEOPLE reported last year.
"He's been in here, he's training, he's working out," Presti told reporters at the time, adding that the team was placing "no expectations" on their player to return to the court before he was ready.
Topic’s agent told Serbia’s Arena Sport TV on Sunday, Feb. 8, that Topic’s "chemotherapy was successfully completed” and that he was ready to return to basketball full time, according to USA Today’s NBA blog OKC Thunderwire.
After Topic’s debut Monday night, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters he was “thrilled” to hear the NBA prospect was back on the floor.
NIkola Topic #44 of the Oklahoma City Thunder sets to shoot agaisnt the Utah Jazz during the first half of their NBA Summer League game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on July 8, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
NIkola Topic #44 of the Oklahoma City Thunder sets to shoot agaisnt the Utah Jazz during the first half of their NBA Summer League game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on July 8, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“We’re all just collectively thrilled that he’s back playing basketball,” Daigneault told reporters, according to AP. “I know he’s missed it a great deal, and this is just so good for him mentally to get his feet back underneath him.”
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Daigneault noted that Topic’s return was a “great accomplishment,” no matter what comes next for the young player’s NBA career.
“Just can’t say enough about him as a guy, his mental toughness, maturity, resilience,” the Thunder coach said. “He hasn’t played a lot of basketball over the last two years, and he comes off a one-year rehab and immediately has a surprising diagnosis and goes through chemotherapy, three rounds of it. So for him to work himself back onto the court is just an unbelievable accomplishment, and we’re incredibly happy for him.”