Nikola Topic’s NBA debut Thursday night against Milwaukee wasn’t about the points or the stats.
He scored two points, grabbed one rebound, and dished one assist in a 110-93 loss to the Bucks. The Thunder weren’t celebrating those numbers. They were celebrating the fact that he was on the court at all. The 12th pick in the 2024 NBA draft entered late in the first quarter and received a loud ovation from Oklahoma City fans who understood exactly what they were witnessing: a young player who had been robbed of basketball twice once by injury, once by illness finally getting to play the game he loves.
Topic’s path to Thursday night is the kind of adversity that makes everything else seem insignificant.
He missed all of last season with a knee injury suffered before the draft. When he started training camp this season, the Thunder discovered he had testicular cancer during preseason medical evaluations. He had a procedure in October, then underwent chemotherapy. Most athletes at that point would have serious questions about whether coming back was even worth it. Topic just asked when he could start training again.
The mental resilience required to come back from cancer treatment isn’t something you can stat-check. Chemotherapy destroys your body’s ability to perform at elite levels. Coming back from it requires not just physical recovery but psychological belief that it’s possible. At 21 years old, after missing an entire year to injury and then dealing with cancer diagnosis and treatment, Topic could have legitimately questioned whether Nikola NBA career was even going to happen. Instead, he worked his way back into game shape with the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, posting seven points and seven assists in 16 minutes during an overtime victory Monday night.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault understood the significance of Thursday in ways that box scores never capture. “Just thrilled for him,” Daigneault said. “He’s obviously been through a ton of adversity in his life in the last couple years. He’s a young guy that all he wants to do is play basketball and that’s been taken from him a couple of different times.” That’s the real story. This isn’t about a 12th overall pick trying to prove his draft position was justified. This is about a human being who wanted to play basketball, lost the opportunity through injury, got that back, then lost it again to cancer, and finally got to do what he loves.
Daigneault was careful to emphasize that Topic is still rebuilding
He’s not ready for heavy minutes or high expectations. Thursday was about getting him on the court with “very little expectations from a performance standpoint.” It was about letting him play basketball again and letting him feel like a professional athlete after months of treatment and recovery. “We’re just happy he got out there tonight and is on that track back. That’s the most important thing,” Daigneault said. The coach gets it: this wasn’t about winning a game. This was about giving a young player his life back.
That ovation Topic received when he entered the game wasn’t just about basketball
It was Oklahoma City acknowledging that they were witnessing something bigger than the sport. They were witnessing a 21-year-old refuse to let cancer define his career. They were witnessing a young professional fight through chemotherapy and physical reconstruction to get back on a basketball court. They were witnessing the kind of human resilience that makes sports meaningful beyond the wins and losses.
Topic scored two points Thursday night. He’ll probably score many more as he continues his recovery. But nothing he scores will be more significant than those first two points against Milwaukee the moment when a cancer survivor got his NBA career started despite everything that tried to take it away from him. That’s the kind of story that reminds you why sports matter. It’s not about the score. It’s about what it represents.
