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.
![]() Engler with Partizan | |
Personal information | |
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Born | (1928-06-20)20 June 1928 Bátaszék, Kingdom of Hungary[1] |
Died | 1 May 2020(2020-05-01) (aged 91) Zrenjanin, Serbia |
Nationality | Serbian |
Career information | |
NBA draft | 1950 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 1946–1963 |
Position | Guard |
Number | 4, 7 |
Career history | |
1946–1947 | Proleter Zrenjanin |
1948–1953 | Partizan |
1954–1963 | Proleter Zrenjanin |
Career highlights and awards | |
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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]
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]
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]
Proleter 1956 Yugoslav Basketball League Champions | |
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