3-time MVP winner happy to see Nikola Topic make NBA debut

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For just the second time this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder will face the Denver Nuggets on Friday. The highly-anticipated matchup is always must-watch TV. Even with both teams dealing with a plethora of injuries, they remain in most folks' title contender circle.

We'll see if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander suits up for the Friday matchup. He's missed nine in a row with an abdominal strain. The reigning MVP is due for a re-evaluation today. If he does return, how he squares off against Nikola Jokic will dominate the airwaves.

One of the more underrated storylines involves someone Jokic has grown to know over the years. It'll be the first time the three-time MVP winner will share an NBA floor with Nikola Topic. Both were briefly teammates on Team Serbia this past summer.

"I played with him, of course. We played a little bit before on the national team. Really talented. He's the future of Serbian basketball," Jokic said. "He's fighting something that is probably more important — most important — and he won it."

Of course, Topic is still getting used to the NBA game. He's only five games into his career after he was taken with the No. 12 pick of the 2024 NBA draft. He missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL. He missed the first four months this season battling testicular cancer.

Topic's NBA debut was one of the cooler stories of the season. Nice to see Jokic speak so positively of his time with the 20-year-old. Even through just a handful of games, you're seeing flashes of his high-end playmaking and downhill scoring.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: 3-time MVP winner happy to see Nikola Topic make NBA debut

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