Oklahoma City Thunder second-year guard Nikola Topic, has been diagnosed with cancer.
Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti announced on Thursday that Topic, who is only 20 years old, has begun chemotherapy for testicular cancer.
The No. 12 draft pick was diagnosed with cancer in early October but did not want his diagnosis to be released to the public until he began chemotherapy.
Topic has yet to play a minute in the NBA due to being injured during the 2024-2025 season, but was still considered part of the Thunder’s 2025 championship team, making him the third youngest player to ever win an NBA title.
Thunder GM Sam Presti says that Nikola Topic has begun chemotherapy for testicular cancer
Presti says doctors are ‘extremely positive’ about his outlook and expect him to eventually return to basketball pic.twitter.com/ISPtcRTNYS
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 30, 2025
Per ESPN:
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic has begun chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with testicular cancer, general manager Sam Presti told reporters Thursday.
Presti said doctors are “extremely positive” about the long-term outlook for Topic, the No. 12 pick in the 2024 draft who sat out last season while recovering from a torn ACL.
Topic underwent a procedure in early October at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to get a biopsy. After receiving the results, he asked the Thunder to not publicly reveal his diagnosis until he had started the chemotherapy treatments, Presti said.
Topic has been able to work out while beginning chemotherapy, but Presti said there is no timetable for the 20-year-old Serbian guard to make his NBA debut.
“Our only expectations for him are to focus on this,” Presti said. “This is his most important priority. He’ll be back playing basketball when he’s able to, but we’re not putting any time length or expectations on that, obviously. He has our total support, encouragement and love.”
The Harvard Gazette reported that cancer rates among young people have spiked in the last decade.
Kimmie Ng, who serves as an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated, “Somebody who is born in 1990 now has quadruple the risk of developing rectal cancer and over double the risk of developing colon cancer compared to a similarly aged person who was born in 1950.”
She noted more specifically colon cancer has been on the rise among young adults.
The Cancer Research Institute further reported 1 in 5 people diagnosed with colorectal cancer are now under the age of 55.
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