For nearly a decade, Nikola Jokic has been a driving force for the Denver Nuggets and the heart of Serbian basketball. As the 2025-26 NBA season continues, he has declared a member of the Oklahoma Thunder the future of Serbian basketball.
Nikola Jokić on Nikola Topić:
"He's the future of Serbian basketball."
"He's fighting something that is probably more important — most important — and he won it." pic.twitter.com/EZyDAQcusL
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) February 26, 2026
Jokic stated that he believed Nikola Topic was the future of basketball, and how they played together on the national team. Additionally, he stated that he believed that Topic was playing for something more important, and hoped he would see him soon.
Topic made his NBA debut recently for the Thunder and scored two points on three shots on February 12. Since then, he has played sporadically for the short-handed Thunder. But the overwhelming story was the fight he was battling outside the court.
In October 2025, Topic was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Since then, he has been battling the disease through chemotherapy, finishing three rounds by January 2026.
Topic represented the Serbian national team in 2023, averaging 15.3 points across seven FIBA U18 National Championship games. Significantly, his performance was enough to take home the MVP award. Topic is hoping to translate that game to the NBA level, while also fighting the hardest battle of his life.
Topic has been battling the disease for months, and continues the fight, as he tries to help the Thunder stay on top in spite of the massive amount of injuries they have. After getting high praise from Jokic, the young Serbian superstar could fulfill the prediction and morph into a great player in his own right. If Topic's NBA journey is anything like Jokic's, the best is possibly yet to come.
