Serbian forward Borisa Simanic will miss the remainder of the FIBA World Cup after having surgery to remove his kidney that resulted from taking an elbow to the midsection in Serbia's game against South Sudan last Wednesday. The injury occurred in the closing minutes of Serbia's 115-83 win in the final game of group play.
Simanic was defending under the basket when South Sudan's Nuni Omot hit the big man with an elbow to try and create some space to score. Simanic immediately began grabbing at his midsection, and crouched down in pain.
Simanic was taken to the hospital after the game and received emergency surgery. However, on Sunday the Serbian Basketball Federation announced that Simanic was experiencing complications and needed to undergo a second surgery to remove his kidney. He's expected to remain at a hospital in the Philippines to recover.
The doctor of the Serbian national team said of Simanic's surgery:
"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."
On Thursday, a day after the incident occurred, Omot was asked about the play in which he elbowed Simanic.
"I heard that he ended up going to the hospital," Omot said. "My apologies, I didn't mean to make no type of a dirty play. I hope you have a speedy recovery. I pray for you, you'll be in my prayers. I'm not a dirty player, I've never been a dirty player," Omot continued. "From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely apologize to everyone that's watching and to the player especially."
Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup after going 4-1 in group play. They'll face Lithuania -- which just upset Team USA -- in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
