BIOGRAPHY
Laszlo Nagy’s story would have been quite different had he not picked handball over basketball. As a youngster, Nagy was equally talented in both sports, and his father was a professional basketball player, but handball won out and shaped the rest of his life.
Nagy began his career at Pick Szeged, where he attracted the attention of FC Barcelona coach Valero Rivera. He moved to Spain and spent 12 years at the Palau Blaugrana, winning the EHF Champions League with the Catalan side in 2005 and 2011 and finishing as runner-up in 2010.
When it became clear he would not be able to finish his career at Barcelona, Nagy moved back to Hungary to join Veszprém. The aim was to help the Hungarian club lift the Champions League trophy, but Veszprém fell short - although Nagy played three more finals, including losing to Barcelona in 2015.
After winning junior and youth medals with Hungary, Nagy played 209 matches for the senior national team including at multiple world and European championships. Although Hungary did not win a senior medal in this time, Nagy was part of the squad which finished fourth at both the Athens 2004 and London 2012 Olympic Games. He was also Hungary’s captain between 2004 and 2009.
Nagy announced his retirement in 2019, but came briefly out of retirement to help Hungary qualify for the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship.
Nagy now works for Veszprém and the Hungarian Handball Federation, continuing to give back to the sport.
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