Other relatives were also killed. And yet, his grandmother somehow finds light amid the darkness, had a son (Ernie) who came to America not knowing English and became the first NBA player whose parents were Holocaust survivors. “My grandmother always said just because a story is difficult doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell it,” Grunfeld told USA TODAY Sports. “It was hard. It’s hard to think about these things happening to anybody let alone to your family. For my dad, these were his grandparents who were killed in Auschwitz. For my grandmother, these are her parents and siblings.