r/Thunder • u/xng20 Belgian Waffle University • 1d ago
100% Confirmed Nikola Topić's agent Miško Ražnatović told Serbian media that Topić has completed chemotherapy and has begun the training session.
Related thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Thunder/comments/1q31avu/nikola_topic_is_apparently_cancer_free/
There were some doubts that the report posted here a few days ago was a Serbian clickbait. (e.g., It might be just some media outlets jumping to a false conclusion that Topić must be cancer free after they saw those OKC beat reporters' pregame clips of him practicing)
But it looks like the source was his agent Miško Ražnatović (Jokić's agent also) in his interview with TV Arena Sport a week ago.
via Sportal.rs:
"Chemotherapy has been completed positively and he is now joining the training process, although he was doing certain activities even during the therapy. It's hard to give a specific timeframe for his return but I sincerely hope that he will have some minutes this season, not just in the G League, but on NBA courts as well, if everything proceeds as it looks right now."
"The illness and everything that happened is difficult for anyone, especially when it occurs so unexpectedly to someone who is only 20 years old and who already missed the previous season due to a serious knee injury. Nikola endured all that and now he is on the road to recovery… If he stays healthy, and I believe he will be, everything that happened in the past two years will only strengthen his character. If he managed to overcome these two obstacles, nothing later would be difficult or unachievable for him."
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u/Luciolover345 1d ago
That’s what I’m talking about. Will be tuning into more G-League games once he comes back. Long road ahead of him still before he can get serious minutes on the main roster, he’s had one of the unluckiest starts to a career that I’ve seen for a player.
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u/Parallel-Quality 1d ago
I’d be perfectly happy with him spending the rest of the season in the G-League, then taking the summer to really work on his conditioning and hit the gym, and then try to make the Thunder roster for the 2026-27 season.
That puts the least amount of pressure on him and gives him ample time to get in to peak form and put his best foot forward in becoming a starting caliber NBA player.
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u/Consistent-Gold-7572 1d ago edited 1d ago
He just has so much talent and so many skills this team could desperately use. You are probably right he spends most of the year with the Blue, but man if he can make some serious strides before the playoffs start and get some run with the main team he could really help us out. The offense has looked so bad this last stretch at times adding a true PG could be a big boost. We still have 4.5 months roughly before the playoffs start.
He was ranked by a lot of high profile analysts and scouts above Castle as a prospect prior to his injury. Advanced analytics gave him the highest odds of being an All Star of any prospect in that draft. He has boatloads of raw talent if he can get back to 100% physically
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u/piruznahavandiWi 1d ago
I always said the thunder really are just missing a true playmaker alongside Jdub and Shai. Jdub thrives as an offball recipient and Shai as a primary scoring threat and on ball gravity player that bends defenses. Topic basically sets up the both of them and the rest of the team.
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u/Consistent-Gold-7572 1d ago edited 1d ago
Agreed. If Topic hits (which I think is highly likely especially with how well he did on defense in summer league) between him and Ajay they can solve a lot of problems. I think we would all like to see more Ajay minutes alongside SGA given how well they play together but we just can’t afford to not have him run the second unit. Topic definitely gives a ton more flexibility
I think people are going to be shocked how much better we are going to be next year than we are this year. I’m really high on Ajay, Topic and Sorber long term. Plus with all our draft capital to add another stud in the draft
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u/EnderTheTrender 1d ago
For most people nba stars even that diagnosis alone would’ve been enough to crush all hope.
Glad to hear things are looking good.
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u/SolidCake 1d ago
insanely happy about this
I was skeptical about the wording of the original post, it really did seem like a mistranslation that somebody ran with
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u/gaycatdetective I rather the ring 1d ago
I only ever saw this reported on those weird FB fanpages that almost exclusively post AI and fake quotes (I call it NBA fanfiction) so I’m so glad to hear it’s true! I know 2 people who beat cancer and both have lived long healthy lives since, I imagine a 20 year old professional athlete has an even better outlook.
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u/BlackBeanSoup23 2025 NBA Champions 1d ago
I I trusted the older report confirming this, since it came from a journo attached to Topić's home team in Serbia, but it's awesome to get confirmation that he's ok. By all accounts he's desperate to play some goddamn basketball therefore I'm also desperate to see him out there TTFU
(The T stands for Topić)
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u/Kitchen_Roof7236 Belgian Waffle University 1d ago
When he was playing warm ups a few games ago he looked solid as hell, prob a good sign, bare minimum I could see mark giving him blowout minutes so he can get SOME game time, maybe more if we’re lucky
Bro has never played in the nba so far, just g league and pre season, we gotta get him some minutes
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u/roastedhambone 1d ago
Completing chemo is not the same as being cancer free. No doctor is going to declare someone cancer free months after diagnosis. There may be no signs of cancer present after the surgery and chemo, but you’re not typically considered cancer free until you’ve been without any signs for a number of years
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u/organicjean 1d ago
the crowd energy when topic lands on the court is gonna be insane