Lajos Engler

Lajos "Lala" Engler (Serbian Cyrillic: Лајош "Лала" Енглер; 20 June 1928 – 1 May 2020), also credited as Lajoš Engler, was an ethnic Hungarian teacher and basketball player, who represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally.

Lajos Engler
Engler with Partizan
Personal information
Born(1928-06-20)20 June 1928
Bátaszék, Kingdom of Hungary[1]
Died1 May 2020(2020-05-01) (aged 91)
Zrenjanin, Serbia
NationalitySerbian
Career information
NBA draft1950 / Undrafted
Playing career1946–1963
PositionGuard
Number4, 7
Career history
1946–1947Proleter Zrenjanin
1948–1953Partizan
1954–1963Proleter Zrenjanin
Career highlights and awards

Playing career

Engler started to play basketball for team Proleter Zrenjanin of the Yugoslav Basketball League. In 1948 he moved to the Belgrade-based team Partizan where he played until 1953. In 1954, he moved back to Proleter.

During his second stint with Proleter he won the National Championships in the 1956 season.[2] Engler was a part of the group of players known as the Proleter's Five, which included himself, Milutin Minja, Ljubomir Katić, Dušan Radojčić, and Vilmos Lóczi.[3][4]

National team career

Engler was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that participated at the 1950 FIBA World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Over three tournament games, he averaged 1.0 point per game.[5] The World Championship in Argentina was the inaugural tournament. At the 1953 FIBA European Championship in Moscow, the Soviet Union, he averaged 6.5 points per game over eight tournament games.[6] At the 1954 FIBA World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he averaged 5.8 points per game over five tournament games.[7] At the 1957 FIBA European Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria, he averaged 4.8 points per game over nine tournament games.[8]

Engler played 78 games for the national team.[9]

Post-playing career

After retirement, Engler worked as a teacher of German language in the Zrenjanin Grammar School.[9]

Engler died on 1 May 2020 in Zrenjanin.[10][11]

Career achievements and awards
  • In the 2015 Serbian sports drama We Will Be the World Champions Engler is portrayed by Lazar Jovanov.[14]
  • The 2016 Serbian documentary, Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste (transl. The 1956 Champions), portrays Engler and the achievements of the Proleter basketball team in the mid 1950s and how they won the Yugoslav Championship in 1956.[15][16][17]

References
  1. Elhunyt Engler Lajos (1928–2020)
  2. "Košarkaška prvenstva Jugoslavije (1945-91) – treći deo". strategija.org. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. "DISKRETNI ŠARM ŠAMPIONA I VIRTUOZA POD OBRUČIMA". sportinfo.rs. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. "Košarkaško prisećanje: Proleter Zrenjanin 1956". utakmica.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  5. "1950 Yugoslavia 5 - Lajos Engler". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  6. "1953 Yugoslavia 15 - Lajos Engler". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  7. "1954 Yugoslavia 7 - Lajos Engler". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  8. "1957 Yugoslavia 7 - Lajos Engler". fiba.basketball. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  9. "Sportski spomenar, košarkaš Lajoš Engler". rts.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  10. "Lajoš Engler: Odlazak poslednjeg Mohikanca". Koš magazine. 1 May 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  11. "UMRO BIVŠI KOŠARKAŠ PARTIZANA! Preminuo član legendarne petorke domaće košarke o kojoj je čak snimljen i FILM!". sport.blic.rs. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  12. "Lajoš Engler – Dali smo sve od sebe, nadamo se da smo vam uzor". ilovezrenjanin.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  13. "Zrenjanin u znaku košarke". kss.rs. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  14. "We Will Be the World Champions (2015) Full Cast & Crew". imdb.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  15. "Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste". kss.rs. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  16. "Film Šampioni iz pedeset šeste prikazan u Ljubljani". zrenjanin.org.rs. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. "ŠAMPIONI IZ PEDESET I ŠESTE". on YouTube. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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