Ernie Grunfeld

Ernest Grunfeld (born April 24, 1955) is a Romanian-American former professional basketball player and former general manager in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

In college at the University of Tennessee, he set a new record as the school's all-time leading scorer.

Born in Satu Mare, Romania, Grunfeld immigrated with his parents, Alex and Livia, to the United States in 1964 when he was eight years old.

He is Jewish, and his parents are Holocaust survivors.

He grew up in Forest Hills, in Queens, New York City, where he attended Forest Hills High School.

At 18 years of age, he played for Team USA in the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel, was the only high school student on the American team's starting five, and led the team in scoring with a 20-point average as the US took the silver medal.

He attended the University of Tennessee, where he played basketball with future NBA Hall of Famer Bernard King.

Nicknamed the "Ernie and Bernie Show", they averaged over 40 points per game.

With 2,249 points, he set a new record as the school's all-time leading scorer.

Grunfeld was selected to participate as a member of the American basketball team at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, while he was still attending high school.

The US team was defeated by Israel in the final game.

He won gold medals with Team USA at the 1975 Pan American Games and the 1976 Summer Olympics.

He began his professional career as a player with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Grunfeld played on the team that won a gold medal at the 1975 Pan American Games.

He also participated in the basketball event at the 1976 Summer Olympics, again winning the gold medal.

He became an U.S. citizen that year.

Grunfeld was drafted 11th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1977 NBA draft.

On December 26, 1978, Grunfeld led all scorers with 27 points in a 143–84 blowout victory against the Detroit Pistons.

He played with the Bucks for two years and moved to the Kansas City Kings for the 1979–82 seasons.

In 1981 he had a .535 field goal percentage.

The Knicks signed him as a free agent in 1982, and he played there for four years, where he reunited with Bernard King.

In 1982 he averaged 12.7 points a game, and 21.8 per 40 minutes.

He retired following the 1985–86 season.

Grunfeld averaged 7.4 points per game in his NBA career.

In 1986 he was third in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage, with .426.

He finished his career with a .477 field goal percentage and a .770 free throw percentage.

His playoff shooting percentages were even better.

After he retired from the NBA, Grunfeld was the Knicks radio analyst for the MSG Network from 1986–89.

He then briefly worked under Stu Jackson as an assistant coach for the Knicks before starting his career in team administration.

He served as General Manager of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 1999, and as the Bucks General Manager from 1999 to 2003, and then became the president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2019.

Grunfeld was appointed director of administration in the 1990–91 season and was moved to vice-president of player personnel on April 23, 1991.

The record was broken by Allan Houston in 1993.

He was then appointed vice president and general manager on July 21, 1993.

He became president and general manager on February 23, 1996.

During his time with the Knicks, Grunfeld and his family were residents of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

During his eight-year tenure as a Knicks executive, the team had a record of 397 wins and 227 losses (.636), and a 61–44 playoff record.

They won the Atlantic Division three times and reached the NBA finals twice.

At the time of his removal from the general manager post, during the 1998–99 season, the Knicks had a 21–21 record and were on the verge of not making the playoffs.

They eventually made it with a 27–23 record.

Grunfeld was responsible for bringing every player on that roster to the team except for Patrick Ewing.