Diagnosed with cancer! Undergoing chemotherapy! The 20-year-old championship guard is completely useless

In the early morning of October 31, another breaking news from the NBA: Thunder general manager Presti announced that Thunder guard Nikola Topic was diagnosed with testicular cancer. At present, Topic has begun receiving chemotherapy and is out indefinitely. Topic was born on August 10, 2005. He is only 20 years old. This news is like a bolt from the blue.

Presti said that doctors are relatively optimistic about Topic's condition. He had undergone testicular surgery in early October and it should not affect his NBA career. Old fans should remember that former Nuggets center Nene was also diagnosed with testicular cancer. In January 2008, Nene, who was under 26 years old at the time, was diagnosed with a testicular tumor, and one testicle was directly removed.

The leader checked and found that testicular cancer is the most common cancer among young men aged 15-35, and it is also one of the cancers with the highest cure rate. The cure rate when detected early is over 90%. For professional players, it takes at least 6 months from the end of chemotherapy to the official return. This means that Topic should also be reimbursed this season.

NBA players such as Manu Ginobili and Rui Hachimura have also undergone testicular surgery. However, they only had testicular injuries, not testicular cancer, so they recovered relatively quickly and could return in less than two months. Topic is so miserable. He is the No. 12 pick in the first round of 2024 and has not played in an NBA regular season so far.

Topic was originally the favorite to be among the top five picks in the 2024 class. However, he suffered a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee before the draft, causing his draft stock to plummet. The Thunder knew that Topic would have to recuperate from injuries during his rookie season, but still insisted on selecting him with the 12th pick. Presti believes in his draft vision and wants to scratch this "lottery ticket."

Topic's height and wingspan are both 1.98 meters and weighs 92 kilograms. His father is a member of the former Yugoslavia national team and won the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Topic has been trained in basketball since he was a child and has shown talent far beyond his peers. In 2023, he led Serbia to win the European U18 Basketball Championship, and he was elected MVP of the tournament.

In the 2024 NBA Draft, after Topic was selected by the Thunder, he said: "The Thunder selected an excellent team member and a team leader on and off the court. I will do my best to help the Thunder." Topic is young and energetic, and fans gave him the nickname "Brother Leader." This summer, Topic, who was reimbursed for his rookie season, won the championship with the team.

In the 2025 Summer League, Topic finally returned after recuperating for more than a year. He played a total of 6 Summer League games, averaging 27.3 minutes per game, scoring 10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 4.7 turnovers. The shooting percentage was only 33.3%, the three-point shooting percentage was 20.8%, and the free throw percentage was 92.3%. The outside shooting rate is so low that you can't even see it...

In this year's preseason, Topic only played one game before resting: 4 of 9 shooting, 0 of 3 three-pointers, 2 of 2 free throws, 10 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists. After Topic's testicular surgery, the Thunder announced the implementation of the third-year team option of Topic's rookie contract (2026-27 season, $5.43 million). Presti really wants to train him!

I wish Topic a speedy recovery and hope he can return to the court this season. Come on, young man!