Arnoldo "Nene" Penzkofer (1959 in Cambyreta, Itapúa – November 16, 2008 in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

) was a

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. At a height of 2.12 m (6 ft 11.5 in), Penzkofer was the tallest Paraguayan basketball player in history and one of the most influential figures in the sport. In his native Itapúa Penzkofer worked as a

milkman Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk. This service typically delivers milk in bottles or cartons directly to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cow ...

, and at the age of 18 he was invited to join Club Ciudad Nueva by a scout from that team even though he had never practiced basketball before and was not aware of any of the sport's rules.El “Nene” Penzkofer se fue a encestar al cielo
- Diario ABC Color Throughout his career, he played for teams like Ciudad Nueva, Olimpia, Sol de América and Deportivo San José in Paraguay, helping all of them capture the Paraguayan championship. He also played for teams in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and was part of the

Paraguay national basketball team The Paraguay national basketball team is the team governed by the Paraguayan Basketball Federation ( es, link=no, Confederación Paraguaya de Basquetbol) that represents Paraguay in the men's international basketball competitions organized by ...

for several years. He died in November 2008 of a heart attack, at the age of 49.

References

1959 births 2008 deaths Paraguayan men's basketball players {{Paraguay-basketball-bio-stub