Welcome to the Edge of Sports. I'm Dave Ziron. This week we are talking about a book called

Grace of the Game, The Holocaust, a basketball legacy, and an unprecedented American dream.

It's by Dan Grunfeld.

And if you want to hear this story about how a family went from Hauschwitz to the National Basketball Association, this is what you want to hear.

It's a remarkable interview.

I've also got some choice words about Leah Thomas and Brittany Griner.

Just stand up and just sit down awards and more.

But first, let's talk to Dan Grunfeld.

The book is by the grace of the game, the Holocaust, a basketball legacy, and an unprecedented American dream.

The author is Dan Grunfeld, and we're speaking to him right now. How are you doing, Dan?

Doing well, Dave. Thanks so much for having me. I mean, it's an incredible story that your

family's been through. As you put it, a multi-generational family epic from Auschwitz to the NBA. If you could for our audience,

can you just give a thumbnail of your family's history? Yeah, absolutely. So basketball is kind of

the family business. I played at Stanford, played eight years professionally. My dad was a high

school basketball, All-American from Queens, New York, a college basketball, all-American the University of Tennessee, and then he played nine years in the NBA and was an NBA executive for 30 years. So very well known in the world of sports and the world of basketball, but what's less well known is that my dad, whose name is Ernie Grunfeld, is the only player in NBA history whose parents survived the Holocaust. Actually, I did a year and a half of research for my book. The research suggests he's the only athlete in the history of the four major American sports leagues whose parents are Holocaust survivors. And so, you know, my grandmother, you'll be happy to know, Neltern's 97 in June. She's doing amazingly well, but she was saved twice in Budapest by Swedish diplomat Raul Wallenberg considered one of the greatest heroes of the Holocaust.

She risked her life and saved other lives. And so my family has this really big story. And basketball kind of changed everything. And so, you know, you mentioned my book is called By the Grace of the Game, you know, because the game of basketball really changed everything for us. Yeah, let's speak about that a little bit. I mean, first and foremost, how familiar were you with your family's history when you were growing up? Because I know for me,

you know, we have similar backgrounds other than the basketball, all-American part. We have similar

backgrounds, and it would be like pulling teeth to get my grandparents who

are from the old country, from Eastern Europe, Jewish, lost people during the Holocaust, although

they were already here in the United States. But getting them to talk about it was incredibly

difficult. How conversant was your family home in this history?

You often find with Holocaust survivors, it's a binary. Either they don't talk about it or they

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