Sterling Brown has opened up about his turbulent final season with Partizan, describing the 2025-26 campaign as particularly difficult from a psychological standpoint before his move to Zalgiris.
Partizan went through major turmoil after Zeljko Obradovic’s departure, with the players facing criticism from the fans and the team struggling through coaching changes, roster turnover and several heavy defeats. Sterling Brown was also among the players who came under particular scrutiny from supporters.
Sterling Brown opens up about a difficult Partizan season
Looking back on the campaign, Brown emphasized that the biggest challenge was not necessarily physical. The constant changes around the team made it difficult to maintain the same level of concentration from one game to the next.
“It really wasn’t an easy year. More psychologically than in any other way. Three head coaches during one season, a bunch of new players in the rotation and on the team… It was really difficult just to maintain focus, stay concentrated and fight for a win in every game while watching what the club was going through on and off the court”, Sterling Brown told Basket News.
Brown said he tried to deal with the circumstances by looking for something positive rather than allowing the situation around him to take over.
“There was everything. But I tried to look at everything positively and find at least something good in all of it. The year was really difficult, but I learned a lot from last season. I feel like I grew as a professional and as a player – I learned how to deal with certain situations.”
Staying professional amid the chaos
For Sterling Brown, the answer was to focus on the parts of his job that he could control.
“You simply have to come to work every day, do your job professionally and give everything you have. Keep putting in extra work. Not every day is going to be the best, you won’t always like what’s happening around you, but you have to gather yourself and remind yourself why you’re doing all of this. You have to keep that in mind every time you step into the gym or simply wake up in the morning.”
He also stressed the importance of separating himself from the negativity surrounding the team.
“You have to distance yourself from all the negativity and all the difficulties and simply keep improving. At the end of the day, you’re not playing for just one team – you’re playing for the whole world. You simply have to find a way to move forward and stay motivated amid all that chaos. Sometimes I managed to do that, and obviously it brought me here. Not just last season, but all the previous years as well, although last season was the most recent experience. But as I said, when there is chaos around you, the only way is to stay focused and professional.”
Partizan’s 109-68 loss to Zalgiris
One of the lowest points came in Kaunas, where Zalgiris defeated Partizan 109-68. Sterling Brown believes the result reflected a team that had reached its psychological limit.
“That was complete team exhaustion from a psychological standpoint. I can’t call it anything else – simply burnout. At that time, the team was being led by an interim head coach, there were all those things happening in Belgrade that had nothing to do with basketball…
Everything simply piled up. We weren’t winning, and Zalgiris played a great game that night, came out on the court and did its job.”
Why Sterling Brown chose Zalgiris
After leaving Partizan, Brown joined Zalgiris and said the organization itself played a major role in his decision.
“Simply, how they work, what their traditions are and what the general identity of the club is. Also the details – what the training conditions are like and so on. I wanted to get a clear picture of the organization at this level. I played for Alba Berlin – that’s a different experience from Partizan in Belgrade, and in the EuroLeague in general there are different levels of clubs. I wanted to understand where they are and how they operate. I got really good recommendations.”
Sterling Brown now enters the new season with high ambitions and believes Zalgiris should be targeting the biggest prizes.
“The goal is clear – the playoffs and the Final Four. I don’t think we can set lower goals. If you’re a competitor, you always want to win, and winning championships is the ultimate goal. When you have a good roster on paper, you have to prove it on the court. Our job is to improve every day, make the playoffs and go even further. The expectations of the club, the fans and ourselves are extremely high this season, so we have to do everything we can to meet them.”
