OKC Thunder player to miss start of the season with painful-sounding injury

An Oklahoma City Thunder player is dealing with an ailment that he would probably much rather not be.

The Thunder announced on Monday that guard Nikola Topic underwent a testicular procedure earlier in the day. Topic is set to be re-evaluated in the next 4-to-6 weeks as a result.

With Oklahoma City scheduled to begin the regular season on Oct. 21, Topic could potentially miss the first month of the 2025-26 campaign. A return in mid-to-late November would probably be realistic for him with that timetable, which would have him missing about a dozen or more games.

Topic, still only 20 years old, hails from Serbia and was a lottery pick by the Thunder in 2024 (No. 12 overall). But he has yet to get his NBA career off the ground after missing his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL that he suffered while playing in Europe almost a year-and-a-half ago (video here).

During Topic’s last full season of play in 2023-24, he averaged 18.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game on 52/26/86 shooting splits for Serbian side KK Mega Basket. At 6-foot-6 with strong ball-handling ability, Topic is likely to eventually provide a contribution to the Thunder as a backup to their reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at point guard.

But for now, Oklahoma City will once again have to wait out Topic as he recovers from another surgery. Though the team did not provide any further details on Topic’s injury, a testicular procedure speaks for itself and brings back memories of another Thunder player who once suffered a similar issue.