Lajos "Lala" Engler ( sr-cyr, 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 The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...

internationally.

Playing career

Engler started to play basketball for team Proleter Zrenjanin of the

Yugoslav Basketball League The First Federal Basketball League () was the highest tier level men's professional club basketball competition in SFR Yugoslavia. Founded in 1945 and folded in 1992 (1991-92 Winer Broker YUBA League), it was run by the Basketball Federation ...

. In 1948 he moved to the Belgrade-based team

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

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. Engler was a part of the group of players known as the Proleter's Five, which included himself,

Milutin Minja Milutin Minja ( sr-cyr, Милутин Миња) was a Yugoslav basketball player and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Playing career Minja started his basketball career with Radnički Kristal from ...

Ljubomir Katić Ljubomir "Ljuba" Katić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир "Љуба" Катић; born 25 April 1934) is a Serbian former basketball player and coach. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Playing career Katić started h ...

, Dušan Radojčić, and

Vilmos Lóczi Vilmos Lóczi ( sr-cyr, Вилмош Лоци; 19 January 1925 – 12 July 1991), also credited as Vilmoš Loci, was a Yugoslav basketball coach and player. He represented the Yugoslavia national basketball team internationally. Lóczi was one o ...

National team career

Engler was a member of the Yugoslavia national team that participated at the 1950 FIBA World Championship in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. Over three tournament games, he averaged 1.0 point per game. The World Championship in Argentina was the inaugural tournament. At the 1953 FIBA European Championship in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, the Soviet Union, he averaged 6.5 points per game over eight tournament games. At the 1954 FIBA World Championship in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil, he averaged 5.8 points per game over five tournament games. At the 1957 FIBA European Championship in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Bulgaria, he averaged 4.8 points per game over nine tournament games. Engler played 78 games for the national team.

Post-playing career

After retirement, Engler worked as a teacher of

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

in the Zrenjanin Grammar School. Engler died on 1 May 2020 in

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbi ...

Career achievements and awards

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League (Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

champion: 1 (with Proleter Zrenjanin:

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

). * Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded by the Zrenjanin City Sports Association (2017) * Plaque of the

Basketball Federation of Serbia The Basketball Federation of Serbia ( sr, Кошаркашки савез Србије, Košarkaški savez Srbije) is a non-profit organization and the national sports governing body for basketball in Serbia. The organization represents Serbia in ...

(2016)

In popular culture

* In the 2015 Serbian sports drama '' We Will Be the World Champions'' Engler is portrayed by Lazar Jovanov. * The 2016 Serbian documentary, ''Šampioni iz pedeset i šeste'' (), portrays Engler and the achievements of the Proleter basketball team in the mid 1950s and how they won the Yugoslav Championship in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engler, Lajos 1928 births 2020 deaths Guards (basketball) Hungarians in Vojvodina KK Partizan players KK Proleter Zrenjanin players People from Tolna County Serbian educators Serbian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Zrenjanin University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni Yugoslav men's basketball players 1950 FIBA World Championship players 1954 FIBA World Championship players