The Serbian Basketball Federation announced Monday that forward Borisa Simanic has lost one of his kidneys as the result of an injury sustained during a World Cup game in Manila, Philippines, against South Sudan.
Simanic has been operated on twice in Manila, the team said. Additional complications presented themselves after the first surgery, team doctor Dragan Radovanovic said, requiring the second procedure on Sunday where the kidney was removed.
Serbia plays Lithuania in a World Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday. "It was really tough for us when we heard what happened," Serbian forward Nikola Milutinov told reporters after the team practiced Monday. "First, we didn't believe it was such a bad thing.
It's really affected us. We're really praying for him that he's going to be good as soon as possible." Simanic was injured with just under 2 minutes left in Serbia's win over South Sudan on Wednesday.