Nikola Topić is returning to the field after cancer and chemotherapy

A nice ovation and a decisive pass from the start. Entering the game Nikola Topic it did not go unnoticed. The Serbian played again, in the G-League, for the first time since his discovery his testicular cancer discovered in October.

With the Thunder’s affiliate team, the Oklahoma City Blue, the playmaker finished with 7 points and 7 assists in 16 minutes of play in his team’s 137-135 win against the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

« We are all collectively excited that he is finally playing basketball again. I know he missed it a lot, and it’s a big thing for him, mentally, to find his feet again. », enthuses Marc Daigneault.

This G-League game marked a new stage in the development of Nikola Topic, who has hardly played basketball since the Thunder made him the 12th pick in the 2024 draft. Oklahoma City thus chose the Serbian leader even though two months earlier he had torn his knee ligament, due to an injury that kept him out of the field for the entire first NBA season.

Nikola Topić with two quick assists ⚡ pic.twitter.com/IHOiiVgV7g

— OKC BLUE (@okcblue) February 10, 2026

Waiting for the Paicom center

Nikola Topic played for the Oklahoma City club during last year’s Summer League and resurfaced during the Thunder’s preseason, but was later diagnosed with testicular cancer. He underwent chemotherapy before working hard to regain his fitness as a basketball player.

« This is a great achievement. I can never say enough about him as a man, his mental strength, his maturity, his resilience. (…) In the last two years, he has not played much basketball: he is coming out of a year of rehabilitation and immediately receives this surprising diagnosis and has to undergo chemotherapy, three cycles of treatment. So to see him work like this to get back on the field is an incredible achievement, and we’re incredibly happy for him », says Marc Daigneault again.

For his part, Blues coach Daniel Dixon says he is very proud of his player, whose hair is starting to grow. ” To see him smile, to be back on the court doing what he enjoys, what he loves to do, being there with his teammates… There were so many positives, just seeing him step on the floor, cross those lines and get back into the competition », states the technician.

Waiting for another “applause”, more importantly, from Paicom Center.