2 Former Lakers Sign Overseas With Serbian Team

Two former Los Angeles players have signed with Partizan Belgrade from Serbia.

Dec 18, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at center court at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Two former Laker forwards, Sterling Brown and Isaac Bonga, are making their way to Serbia to play for the Partizan Belgrade.

Eurohoops.net was among the first to report on the news. Belgrade has finalized its roster for the upcoming season, and it includes many former NBA players, including Bonga and Brown.

Bonga was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 NBA Draft with the No.39 overall pick. He signed a rookie scale contract with the Lakers and was assigned to the NBA G League team, the South Bay Lakers. He finally made his NBA debut in early Dec. 2018. In 22 games in the purple and gold, he recorded 0.9 points per game, 0.7 assists, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.4 steals while shooting 15.2 percent from the field and averaging 5.5 minutes per game.

His tenure as a Laker was one to forget, and Los Angeles eventually parted ways with the 24-year-old when he was traded to the Washington Wizards in the 2019 offseason in a three-team trade. He played for the Wizards and the Toronto Raptors after his stint with the Lakers. He last played in the NBA in 2022.

The German native represented his country in this year's Summer Games in Paris. His best game came against Brazil, where he tailed on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 shooting from three in 21 minutes to get the win, 86-73.

Brown joined the Lakers in early Jan. 2023 after signing a ten-day contract. He only played in four games with the team and averaged 2.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists, and zero points while only averaging 6.0 minutes per game. Following his brief stint with the Lakers, he joined the re-joined Raptors 905, Toronto's G League affiliate.

Following the 2023 season, he made his way overseas to sign with  Basketball Bundesliga and EuroLeague club Alba Berlin.

Brown has played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Rockets, and Dallas Mavericks. After a season in Germany, he will move to Serbia. In his rookie EuroLeague season, Brown averaged 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Brown is expected to sign a two-year deal with a team led by one of the more decorated European coaches, Zeljko Obradovic.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted the 29-year-old in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft with the No. 46 overall pick. He played all four years of college at SMU.

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