Serbian PF has kidney removed after FIBA World Cup injury

According to a report by ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Simanić suffered the injury in the final minutes of his team's win against South Sudan last Wednesday, when he was elbowed by opponent Nuni Omot and "immediately crumpled in pain." Per the report, the big man was taken to the hospital that night and had emergency surgery.

Windhorst wrote that Simanić had "complications" over the weekend, related to finding his blood type, and "several Serbian players volunteered to give Simanić their blood."

Serbia will play Lithuania (who served the United States their first loss of the tournament on Sunday) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, almost assuredly without Simanić, who is expected to stay in the hospital in Manila "for some time to recover."

Omot was apologetic in the wake of the news.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to make no type of a dirty play. I hope you have a speedy recovery. I pray for you, you'll be in my prayers," he said. "I'm not a dirty player, I've never been a dirty player. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize to everyone that's watching and to the player especially."

The 25-year-old forward played on the Utah Jazz summer league team last year and has played professionally in Serbia and Spain.

According to Windhorst's report, the World Cup team has put Simanić's No. 28 jersey on an empty seat on its bench in its past two games.