The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Tennessee Athletic Department Historian Bud Ford about Ernie Grunfeld winning a gold medal in 1976. Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Grunfeld being picked 11th overall by Milwaukee in the 1977 NBA Draft.
(photo credit: Bud Ford)
Ernie was a Romanian-born Jewish child of Holocaust survivors who eventually emigrated to New York: what impact did his parents have on him (if any), and what made him choose Tennessee? There were a lot of other teams trying to recruit him as well such as Syracuse/Kentucky/Penn. His parents would come to games from time to time to support him.
He played for Coach Ray Mears and with future Hall of Famer Bernard King: what made Ray such a good coach, and how big a deal was the “Ernie & Bernie Show” back in the day? The Ernie & Bernie Show was huge: they combined for about 50 PPG and made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Coach Mears liked to control the game but after those 2 guys arrived it became a fast-paced game and he changed his philosophy with the “Cinco” offense. They also had some great complementary players.
After winning a gold medal with team USA at the 1975 Pan Am Games he won another gold medal as part of team USA at the 1976 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his new country, and what did it mean to him to win a pair of gold medals? I think that it meant a lot to him. I have a picture of him in his USA uniform and he also played in the Maccabiah Games. He represented himself well and also represented Tennessee.
In January of 1976 he scored a career-high 43 PTS/11-11 FT in a 2-PT OT win at Kentucky (Mike Phillips had 26 PTS/28 REB in defeat): was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? I traveled with the team back then and I went to that game in Lexington. I was the 1st student assistant hired in 1966. He was a very savvy player who understood the game. Kentucky was 1 of our strongest rivals and I think that Ernie went 6-2 against them during his 4 years here. He was not going to be denied that night on offense and was also a very strong defensive player. He was accused of shooting FTs for 2 other guys who got fouled, which led to a lot of Wildcat fans calling him “The Villain”: it was such a savvy move!
In the 1977 NCAA tourney he had 26 PTS/10-16 FG/12 REB in a 5-PT OT loss to Syracuse: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? That was a tough game during Jim Boeheim’s 1st year as head coach. It was an up-and-down game but Grunfeld played his best. We thought that we could make the Final 4 for the 1st time so it certainly hurt. He also scored 36 PTS/13-23 FG in a 6-PT loss to VMI in the 1976 NCAA tourney.
He was named 1st-team All-SEC during each of his 4 years and in 1977 he was named All-American/SEC POY: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? Things were kind of swapping around as Bernard also was named POY 3 times. It was certainly an honor for him to win all of those awards. They complemented each other so well.
He graduated as the all-time leading scorer in school history with 2249 career PTS: what made him such a great scorer? He is currently #2 on the list behind Allan Houston (2801 PTS). He had some great offensive moves even though he was not the biggest player. He could jump/move and was an excellent dribbler, which allowed him to get to the basket. He was a better rebounder than people believed: he was knocking people out of the way with his torso and was hard to handle, which allowed him to get a lot of put-backs. If opponents tried to stop Bernard then Ernie would be left open to score at will.
He was selected 11th overall by Milwaukee in the 1977 NBA Draft (4 spots behind his college teammate King): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? He wanted to play pro ball after graduating so he was excited to get drafted. He might not have had the best scoring career in the NBA but had some great individual games. He later parlayed that into business because he was very smart.
After retiring as a player he became GM of Milwaukee and President of Basketball Operations for Washington: were you surprised that he ended up becoming an NBA executive? Not really. A lot of people in our league believe that Bernard was the best player they had ever seen but I always thought that Ernie was the most savvy player I ever saw. He always was in the right place and made the right choices because he was so smart, which allowed him to become successful. He had a business mind to become an executive.
Tennessee retired his #22 jersey in 2008, named him to its Basketball All-Century Team in 2009, and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2016: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Some people call it the Bernie & Ernie Show but I view it as the Ernie & Bernie Show. It was an era of Tennessee basketball that people still remember and they are both well-respected for their historical presence. I think that Ernie cherished his time here and made some great friends.