The 12th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Topic was the beneficiary of two philosophical movements.

At 6-foot-6 and 200 pounds, he was considered to be one of the next jumbo guards that could thrive in the American pro game. Indeed, he was soon to become teammates with arguably the best big guards in the league: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. For reference, Gilgeous-Alexander is listed at 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds.

Secondly, after decades of European prospects being looked down on, they’re now en vogue. Though they’re still not considered optimal athletes, their fundamentals and approach to the game are praised. Thanks to the success of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Topic’s Serbian roots only helped him gain popularity.

The Messaging Has Been Consistent

To be clear, this isn’t exactly his first time back on the court since undergoing chemotherapy. Topic began to participate in pre-game warm-ups on Dec. 18. Though he was only seen in glimpses, cameras capturing him for just a few seconds, his energy and spirits seemed to be high.

When asked about Topic’s presence on the hardwood, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters (h/t Thunder Wire reporter Clemente Almanza):

“At the end of the day, he’s doing a great job navigating what’s obviously a tough circumstance… Despite the fact that your body goes through hell when you’re in that situation, he’s still conditioning himself. He’s still finding the time to work out, which is not easy to do when you’re going through that. What it puts your body through anyways is hard. To push yourself as a professional athlete is even harder.”

Having proven his mental and physical toughness, Topic has already earned respect from the Thunder organization for his intangibles. Now, he just has to continue on his current course, recovering steadily. If so, he could be receiving minutes from Oklahoma City this season.

Keeping that in mind, just ahead of the New Year, Topic’s agent Misko Raznatovic revealed to TV Arena Sports that Topic had completed chemotherapy and was looking to return to the court (h/t Sportal’s Andriana Rankovic):

“The chemotherapy was successfully completed, and he is now returning to the training process, although he was active during the therapy as well. It’s hard to pinpoint a timeline, but I sincerely hope he gets minutes this year, not only in the G League but on the NBA floor as well, if everything goes the way it is right now.”

*Note: Misko Raznatovic’s quote was translated from Serbian using Google Translate