Ernie Grunfeld is entering his seventh season as president of the Washington Wizards. With 32 years of NBA experience as a player, broadcaster, coach and executive, Grunfeld’s vision and leadership have been paramount to the Wizards’ success.

Now in his 20th season as a top personnel executive in the NBA, Grunfeld’s long list of accomplishments includes two trips to the NBA Finals, four Eastern Conference Finals appearances, 16 playoff berths with three different teams ( including 11 straight from 1991-2001 while with the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks) and 17 seasons of at least .500 basketball.

Grunfeld joined the Wizards organization on June 30, 2003. In just his second year in Washington (2004-05), the Wizards won a playoff series for the first time in over two decades with a roster that was largely assembled under his guidance. Four years later, when the team made its fourth consecutive playoff appearance, Grunfeld’s Wizards reached an organizational goal of becoming perennial playoff contenders, and now aim to take the next step towards becoming a perennial power in the Eastern Conference and in the NBA.

“Everything he has done has been with the focus of making us a playoff contender for years to come,” said Wizards Chairman Abe Pollin. “Some moves have shown immediate returns and others are made with an eye towards the future. That’s the mark of a good manager.”

Grunfeld triggered the Wizards’ ascent in the Eastern Conference with the acquisition of a trio of talented performers in Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, all of whom blossomed into multi-time All-Stars in Washington. Arenas was signed as a restricted free agent out of Golden State in 2003, and Jamison and Butler were acquired, respectively, via trades with the Dallas Mavericks in 2004 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005. Grunfeld recently augmented Washington’s talent and depth with the acquisition of versatile veterans Mike Miller and Randy Foye, a move that is widely regarded as a key reason why Washington is poised to re-join the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference in 2009-10.

With Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson returning from injury, Grunfeld has built a versatile veteran rotation that melds well with his draftees; Andray Blatche (49th overall in 2005), Nick Young (16th in 2007), Dominic McGuire (47th in 2007) and JaVale McGee (16th in 2008).

In the process of building a contender in the Eastern Conference, Grunfeld’s attention to detail resulted in the renovating and upgrading of the team’s facilities at Verizon Center. The major overhaul included the interior and exterior of the team’s locker room and the basketball operations and coaching offices.

Prior to joining the Wizards, Grunfeld spent the previous four seasons as general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks, where the team’s 14 playoff wins during his tenure exceeded its cumulative total in the 12 seasons prior to his arrival. During his tenure, the Bucks posted a record of 177-151 (.540) and qualified for the playoffs three times. Included in the Bucks’ run of playoff success was a trip to the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, where they pushed Philadelphia to a deciding Game Seven.

Grunfeld solidified his reputation as a top talent evaluator with a series of second round picks that helped build the Bucks’ roster. Grunfeld’s eye for finding talent in the second round began when he selected Michael Redd with the 43rd overall pick in 2000, as Redd blossomed into an All-Star performer. Grunfeld has also tabbed Jason Hart (2000), Ronald Murray (2002) and, more recently, Andray Blatche (2005) and Dominic McGuire (2007) in the second round of the NBA Draft to stake his claim as a premier draft day executive.

During Grunfeld’s reign as the Knicks’ top personnel executive, New York advanced to the Conference Semifinals of the NBA Playoffs for nine consecutive seasons (1991-99). His tenure included five 50-plus win seasons, three Atlantic Division Championships and two trips to the NBA Finals. In eight full seasons of decision-making for New York, Grunfeld’s Knicks teams compiled a record of 397-227 (.636) in the regular season and a 61-44 mark in the playoffs.

Grunfeld was named General Manager of the New York Knicks on April 23, 1991, and was later promoted to President and General Manager on February 23, 1996. His tenure in New York was punctuated by Eastern Conference Championships in 1994 and ’99, the latter of which marked the first time in NBA history that an eighth seed advanced to the Finals. Remarkably, after Patrick Ewing was felled by injury, the ’99 Finals squad featured an entirely different starting five than the previous Eastern Conference Champion Knickerbockers just five years earlier.

Under Grunfeld, the mid-‘90’s Knicks completely rebuilt and reloaded to an elite level without missing a beat. Highlighted by trades for Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby, as well as the signing of free agent Kurt Thomas, Grunfeld’s moves helped catapult the Knicks to the Finals in ’99. Three years earlier, Grunfeld acquired both Larry Johnson and Allan Houston on the same day in ’96. Under Grunfeld’s guidance, the Knicks played in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden from 1993-99.

Originally drafted by Milwaukee with the 11th overall selection in 1977, Grunfeld played in the NBA for nine seasons. After two seasons in Milwaukee, he played for the Kansas City Kings from 1979-82 before signing with the Knicks as a free agent in 1982. Grunfeld retired following the 1985-86 season with a career average of 7.4 points per game in 693 career games played.

Following his playing career, Grunfeld served as the Knicks radio analyst for the MSG Network from 1986-89. Prior to the 1989-90 season, he served as an assistant coach for the Knicks under Stu Jackson before his promotion to the front office.

Born in Romania, Grunfeld came to New York City in 1964 with his father, Alex and mother, Livia. He enjoyed a stellar collegiate career at the University of Tennessee, where he left as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,249 points. He teamed with Bernard King at Tennessee to form the “Ernie and Bernie Show” and later played with King in New York. Grunfeld was a member of the 1976 Olympic Team that won gold in Montreal.

Upon his arrival in Washington DC, Grunfeld was quick to establish himself as an active member of the community in the nation’s capital. His participation in the organization’s community outreach programs, including Thanksgiving luncheons, holiday gift deliveries, and charitable bowling tournaments helped set an example of excellence for the Wizards and the community.

In May of 2005, Grunfeld was named by USA Basketball to a panel of nine basketball executives that will advise the United States’ men’s senior national program on matters including coaches and players selection.

Grunfeld and his wife, Nancy, have two children, Rebecca Grunfeld Hamilton, a 2007 graduate of Georgetown Law School who is now a second-year associate at the law firm of Kaye Scholer in Washington, DC, and Danny, a former First-Team Academic All-American from Stanford University, who now plays professional basketball in Spain.