What Happened to Nikola Topic Might Be the Most Unbelievable Comeback Story in the NBA

Late in the first quarter, Nikola Topic appeared almost shocked by the noise as he got off the bench inside the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The audience was applauding—not in a courteous or informal manner, but with the kind of prolonged sound that was only appropriate for something more substantial than a replacement. Most NBA rookies anticipate making their debut. It seemed so unlikely to Topic.

A Serbian guard with soft hands and a reputation for managing tempo like an older player, he was selected as the 12th pick in the 2024 draft. Scouts praised his poise, patience, and capacity to slow down games. However, his left knee failed before he ever put on an NBA jersey. An ACL tear. All of a sudden, his rookie season was nothing more than crutches, rehab centers, and empty arenas that were observed from the sidelines.

Injuries that occur before a career even starts have a cruel quality. Promise is the basis for player drafting, but promise is brittle.

He watched his team progress without him during the entire 2024–25 season as he recovered. Colleagues got better. Roles changed. Rotations became firm. The invisibility might have been more difficult than the pain. Absence has the power to subtly erase people in professional sports.

Then something worse came just as he was getting ready to go back.

Doctors determined that Topic had testicular cancer in October 2025. Basketball can’t match the sense of gravity that the word itself conveys. Surgery was required for treatment. Uncertainty in chemotherapy. Basketball wasn’t even relevant when his career ended again.

Although the Thunder organization openly backed him, institutional optimism and private fear are not the same thing. The process of chemotherapy is not abstract. It’s tangible. Wearying out. Slow. When athletes experience it, they come to the unsettling realization that their bodies, which at one point seemed unbreakable, are not. How close Topic was to losing everything he had fought for is still unknown.

His treatments were finished by the beginning of 2026. The doctors gave him the all-clear to resume playing basketball. “Cleared to return” sounds almost simple and clinical. Returning, however, is not a switch. It happens gradually. Conditioning wears off. The timing vanishes. Confidence wavers.

In the few minutes he spent playing in the G League, he scored seven points and provided seven assists. Little steps. essential ones. Then February 12, 2026, arrived.

The arena responded instantly when Topic entered the NBA game against the Milwaukee Bucks. A round of applause. Not that he was already excellent. since he was present at all.

That evening, he scored two points. Just one jumper. Just one bounce. One help.

In terms of statistics, it hardly registered. On an emotional level, it was huge.

It’s difficult to overlook how his teammates kept a close eye on him during those minutes and gave him more forceful applause following standard plays. They were aware of the situation. Everyone did. What had transpired could not be measured by the box score.

In sports, there’s a propensity to skip over these moments and concentrate too much on performance, goals, and ceilings. However, as they watched Topic that evening, moving cautiously, adjusting, and finding rhythm, it seemed like the accomplishment was just getting on the floor.

The moment was later referred to as “just the beginning” by his coach. It is, too.

Because success is not the same as survival. The NBA doesn’t take a break. Young athletes are regularly and occasionally harshly evaluated. Despite only being 20 years old, Topic is already lagging behind in basketball. He hasn’t developed for almost two whole years. There are thousands more minutes for other players in his draft class. Time is of the essence.

However, there is an alternative. What he went through might change him in ways that scouts didn’t anticipate. Athletes are transformed by adversity. It can harden them at times. They are occasionally set free by it. Invisible scars can occasionally result from it. Nobody can predict what version Topic will evolve into.

For the time being, he continues to be a unique player in professional sports—one whose narrative is characterized by disruption rather than statistics. He was injured. He was in danger of getting sick. Without him, time passed. Nevertheless, he returned.

There was a silent realization that permeated the arena as they watched him enter the court that evening, slender but steady, taking in the commotion. He no longer saw basketball as the same thing.