Episode 130 with Dan Grunfeld, Former College and Pro Basketball Standout

Episode 130 Notes and Links to Dan Grunfeld’s Work 

 

    On Episode 130 of The Chills at Will Podcast, Pete welcomes Dan Grunfeld, and the two discuss, among other topics, Dan’s connection to the NBA through his father, Dan’s pressures-internal and external-in playing basketball, his philosophy/mission in writing his book, his love and admiration for his heroic and inspirational grandmother, Dan’s family’s incredible, triumphant, and tragic stories involving the Holocaust, and basketball’s role in healing and publicizing the incredible saga of the Grunfeld family.  

 

    Dan Grunfeld is a former professional basketball player, an accomplished writer, and a proud graduate of Stanford University. An Academic All-American and All-Conference basketball selection at Stanford, Dan played professionally for eight seasons in top leagues around the world, including in Germany, Spain, and Israel. Dan’s writing has been published more than 40 times in media outlets such as Sports Illustrated, The Jerusalem Post, and NBC News. Dan earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2017 and lives with his wife and son in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he works in venture capital.

 

 

Dan Grunfeld’s Website

 

Buy By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy, and an Unprecedented American Dream

 

Dan Grunfeld’s Wikipedia Page

 

Dan and His Book Featured on TMJ4 News

 

At about 2:05, Dan details his relationship with languages and reading-a fellow Matt Christopher 

 

At about 3:50, Dan connects storytelling’s importance and growing up as the child of immigrants

 

At about 5:00, Dan gives info on where to buy his book, his “true labor of love” and the process of writing and publishing and the appearances he has made since the book was published

 

At about 7:30, Dan highlights his grandmother 

 

At about 7:55, Dan is highly complimentary of the legendary Ray Allen, who wrote the book’s Foreword

 

At about 10:50, Dan gives background on what it was like to be the son of a NBA general manager

 

At about 13:25, Dan gives background on how the book was thought up

 

At about 15:15, Dan details his writing process, specifically how his formal and informal interviews took place

 

At about 16:30, Dan talks about food as a “vessel of love” and its importance in his book and in his life

 

At about 17:40, Pete parallels Dan’s love of his grandmother’s cooking

 

At about 18:55, Dan emphasizes the fact that his father and family stressed Dan’s academic excellence over putting pressure on him to be a basketball star

 

At about 20:05, Dan explains the internal pressure to “make it as a basketball player” and how his family’s histories brought on pressure 

 

At about 21:05, Pete and Dan discuss connections between Anyu’s idyllic childhood and events from the iconic Night by Elie Wiesel

 

At about 23:10, Pete details, to Dan’s point about the importance of telling individual stories to better understand the unfathomable histories, the power of LA’s Museum of Tolerance 

 

At about 24:35, Dan talks about the symbolism and importance of a family heirloom, a silver spoon

 

At about 26:25, Dan talks about pressures put upon him and connections to a NBA decision maker

 

At about 27:40, Dan recounts details of “the greatest game [he] ever played”

 

At about 29:30, Dan talks about the intersections of Adolf Eichmann, Raoul Wallenberg and Dan’s grandmother, Anyu, in Budapest

 

At about 31:55, Pete and Dan talk about chapters detailing Dan’s improvements in college hoops and the importance of the 1936 Olympics and Jewish NBA players

 

At about 32:50, Dan highlights the sad story of his uncle

 

At about 33:35, Pete and Dan talk about Dan’s huge leap in his Stanford career and the connection between his improvement and workouts with the eccentric and iconic genius, Frank Matrisciano, “Hell’s Trainer” 

 

At about 40:10, Pete asks Dan to describe the “highs and lows” involved with his huge success his junior year that was interrupted by a devastating ACL injury; Dan connects the injury to bigger themes in the book

 

At about 44:05, Dan recounts an amazing link between comedian/actor Buddy Hackett and the Grunfeld’s exit from Romania and their voyage to America

 

At about 47:30, Dan discusses the importance of a team mile run upon his return to Stanford’s team and his grueling rehab process

 

At about 50:45, Dan responds to Pete’s questions about his father’s loss of his brother Lutzi and interviews that brought out more of Ernie’s remembrances of his beloved brother; additionally, connections to Ernie’s motivations for basketball success and Anyu’s mourning process are explored

 

At about 53:50, Dan recounts the story of his grandparents and their realization that their son Ernie was a basketball phenom

 

At about 56:00, Dan tells about “asking for permission from [his] grandmother” to play in his first pro league, in Germany

 

At about 56:55, Dan discusses his experience trying out for the New York Knicks and talks about some legendary players whom he played against 

 

At about 59:05, Dan and Pete discuss Ernie’s 1976 Olympics appearance, his NBA career, and his connections with Bernard King- “Ernie and Bernie”

 

At about 1:01:50, Dan discusses the end of his own playing career and changing perspective 

 

At about 1:03:20, Dan talks about his current basketball-playing philosophy and performance 

 

At about 1:05:10, Pete and Dan discuss the ending of the book and ideas of legacy and love, as Dan reflects on the fact that stories like those of his families “need” to be passed on to future generations 

 

At about 1:09:35, Dan gives his contact information and encourages people to connect with him 

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The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

    Please tune in for Episode 131 with Alice Elliott Dark, author of the novels Fellowship Point and Think of England, and whose story "In the Gloaming” was chosen by John Updike for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of The Century and made into films by HBO and Trinity Playhouse

The episode will air on July 5.