Former Knicks GM Ernie Grunfeld’s immigrant story told in son’s new book
There’s a lot of darkness in the story of Ernie Grunfeld and his family, a mix of tragedy and persecution that brought him from Russia to New York City. But ultimately, it’s an American dream realized through perseverance and documented in a new book and authored by his son, Dan Grunfeld.
Grunfeld is remembered fondly by Knick fans as the team’s GM through the 1990s golden era, responsible for building rosters around Patrick Ewing that were annually positioned for a deep playoff run. But less known about Grunfeld is that he’s the only NBA player whose parents survived the Holocaust, or that he endured a difficult transition as a Romanian immigrant after the death of his brother.
“If there’s any doubt about how far the game of basketball can take you, here’s the proof,” said Dan Grunfeld, whose book, ‘By the Grace of the Game,’ is released Nov. 30.
Ernie Grunfeld’s grandparents were killed in Auschwitz. Five of his aunts and uncles were murdered during the Holocaust. But his mother, Lily, a major and resilient figure in the book, was saved twice by Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman who famously rescued thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II.
Following the war, Lily and her husband then spent years in communist Russia before the family fled to Forest Hills, Queens, because of the neighborhood’s large Jewish population. She tried to enroll a 9-year-old Ernie at a yeshiva in the Bronx, but the future All-American was turned away because he didn’t know English.
Ironically and triumphantly, Grunfeld’s first job after his playing career was as a Knicks radio analyst for MSG Network.
“I’d say he picked up the language well,” Dan Grunfeld said.
Dan Grunfeld’s purpose for the book was making sense of his family’s history and journey, which led him down the upsetting story of his uncle’s death. It occurred not long after the family immigrated to New York City, when Ernie’s older brother, Lutzi, succumbed to leukemia.
“It’s not something that my dad talks about. It’s a very, painful thing in his life. And you can imagine,” said Dan.
Ernie Grunfeld turned to basketball, which deeply embedded in the Jewish community of New York City. Eighteen years prior to Grunfeld’s arrival to Forest Hills, the New York Knicks played the first ever NBA game with four Jews in the starting lineup.
Grunfeld starred at Forest Hills HS, then at the University of Tennessee with Bernard King as his teammate. He captured an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. and played nine years in the NBA, including four with the Knicks.
He wore No. 18 because of the number’s significance in Judaism, meaning ‘Life.’ Dan Grunfeld followed in his father’s steps on the court — where he played for Stanford and invited to Knicks training camp in 2008 — but wanted to tell a story that goes beyond basketball with ‘By the Grace of the Game.’
