Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Nikola Topic Returns To Hardwood Following Cancer Diagnosis
Usually, when a young player checks into an NBA game for the first time, there’s a polite ripple of applause, maybe a few cheers from the die-hards who actually watch the draft combine. But Thursday night in Oklahoma City was different. When Nikola Topic walked onto the court late in the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks, the ovation wasn’t just for a basketball player. It was for a survivor.
Most of us call out of work if we sleep on our necks wrong. Topic? He just finished staring down testicular cancer and decided the best way to celebrate was to try to score on an NBA defense.
A Brutal Road To a Debut
To say Topic has had a rough start to his professional career would be the understatement of the decade. The Serbian guard was snagged by the Thunder as the 12th overall pick in the 2024 draft, a lottery talent with high expectations attached to his name.
But the basketball gods can be cruel. First, it was the knee. Topic missed the entirety of last season, nursing an injury he picked up before he even shook Commissioner Adam Silver’s hand. Then came the preseason, and with it, news that makes a torn ACL look like a papercut. A diagnosis of testicular cancer.
It’s the kind of headline that stops you in your tracks. Suddenly, depth charts and shooting percentages don’t matter. Topic underwent a procedure in October, followed by the grueling process of chemotherapy. While his teammates were running suicides and working on defensive rotations, Topic was fighting a battle that had nothing to do with basketball.
The Ovation At Paycom Center
Fast forward to Thursday night. The Thunder were hosting the Bucks, and the atmosphere shifted the moment Topic got the nod. He checked in late in the first quarter. The noise from the OKC crowd was deafening. It was a mixture of relief, respect, and pure joy. You rarely get a moment that transcends the sport right in the middle of a regular-season game, but this was it.
And he didn’t just run around out there, either. Early in the second quarter, Topic pulled up from near the free-throw line. The jumper was pure. The net snapped. It was his first NBA basket, but it felt like the final punctuation mark on a sentence that had been running on for two painful years.
Warming Up In the G-League
Before the bright lights of the main stage, Topic had to prove he was ready physically. The Thunder, being the smart organization they are, didn’t just throw him to the wolves. They sent him to the Oklahoma City Blue.
On Monday night, Topic suited up for the Thunder’s G League affiliate to shake off the rust. And honestly? He looked good. In 16 minutes of action, he posted seven points and dished out seven assists.
It wasn’t a blowout, either. The Blue scraped by with a 137-135 overtime victory against the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Topic was in the mix, getting his legs back, feeling the speed of the game, and proving that the chemo hadn’t taken away his court vision. That performance was the green light the main roster needed to call his number on Thursday.
What’s Next For Nikola Topic?
Now that the narrative is written, the real work starts. The Thunder are a squad with legitimate aspirations, and Topic isn’t just a feel-good story; he’s a lottery pick who needs to contribute.
But if the last two years have shown us anything, it’s that betting against Topic is a bad idea. He’s battled through a knee injury that cost him a year and a cancer diagnosis that could have cost him a lot more. Hitting a jumper over a Milwaukee defender? After what he’s been through, that’s the easy part.
