Borisa Simanic, a forward for Serbia, will not be able to play in the rest of the FIBA World Cup because he had surgery to remove his kidney. This was because he got hit in the stomach with an elbow during Serbia’s game against South Sudan last Wednesday. The injury happened in the last few minutes of the last game in the group stage, which Serbia won 115-83.
Borisa Simanic was defending under the basket when South Sudan’s Nuni Omot elbowed the big man to make room for a shot. Simanic grabbed his stomach right away and dropped to the ground in pain.
After the game, Simanic was taken to the hospital and had to have surgery right away. But on Sunday, the Serbian Basketball Federation said that Simanic was having problems and needed a second surgery to have his kidney taken out. He will likely stay in a hospital in the Philippines until he gets better.
On Thursday, a day after the play in which Omot elbowed Simanic, he was asked about it.
“I heard that he ended up going to the hospital,” said Omot. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pull any kind of dirty trick. I hope you get better quickly. I pray for you and will continue to pray for you. I’ve never been a dirty player, and I never will be,” Omot said. “From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry to everyone watching and, most of all, to the player.”
After going 4-1 in group play, Serbia moved on to the next round of the FIBA World Cup. In the quarterfinals on Tuesday, they will play Lithuania, which just beat Team USA.
The Serbian national team doctor commented on Simanic’s operation, saying:
“Due to complications on the injured kidney that occurred in the postoperative course, Boriša Simanić was operated on again on September 3. Due to changes in the vitality of the kidney tissue, the entire kidney had to be surgically removed. We expect and wish that after this operation, the postoperative course will go smoothly.”
