It’s a long NBA season.
So this list could change in two
weeks, but here are three early surprise
teams.
Suns (4-2): After experiencing its
second-worst season in franchise histo-
ry, Phoenix changed coaches – again –
traded away Josh Jackson and TJ War-
ren, added veterans and role players,
and is playing way beyond preseason
expectations.
Devin Booker is having an All-Star
start, the Suns have displayed versatil-
ity and depth, and Monty Williams is a
leading candidate for coach of the year.
And they’ve done this mostly with-
out Deandre Ayton, who hasn’t played
since the opener after violating the
NBA/NBPA anti-drug program that re-
sulted in a 25-game suspension.
Phoenix began a six-game home-
stand Monday against Philadelphia
(5-0), the NBA’s last unbeaten team.
The 76ers were without Joel Embiid as
Monday was the second of his two-
game suspension following that tussle
he had with Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Suns could be undefeated, too,
as their losses are each by a point on the
game’s final play at Denver and against
Utah.
Heat (5-1):Who is Kendrick Nunn?
Miami knows – and the rest of the
league is finding out.
The undrafted rookie averaged 22.
points on 51.8% shooting through the
first five games, shooting 48.4% on 3’s.
That leads to another question.
How did this guy go undrafted in
2018?
Nunn was dismissed from Illinois af-
ter pleading guilty to misdemeanor do-
mestic battery. He finished his college
career at Oakland (Michigan) Univer-
sity after three years with the Fighting
Illini.
Sure, that had something to do with
him going undrafted.
Golden State had him last year, but
cut the Chicago native. The Warriors
could sure use him now. Miami picked
him up this summer, and so far, so very
good.
The Heat destroyed Houston by 29
points Sunday as they scored 46 in the
first quarter. They’re looking strong
early and could be even stronger once
Jimmy Butler gets it going.
Kings (2-5):As the late, great Vince
Lombardi would scream and yell, “What
the hell is going on” in Sac-town?
The Kings fired Dave Joerger, re-
placed him with Luke Walton and put
together a team that looked like a playoff
contender on paper.
Then they started the season losing
by 29 to Phoenix – and the losses con-
tinued.
The Kings started 0-5, but they be-
gan November with a good win over
Utah and a win at New York to begin a
three-game road trip.
Maybe Sacramento is starting to find
its way. Not having Marvin Bagley III
(broken right thumb) has hurt, but no
one expected the Kings to stumble out
of the gate that badly.This week’s must-see matchupsTuesday:Heat at Nuggets. Michael
Malone said his Nuggets are a “great talk
team” after their “embarrassing” loss at
previously winless New Orleans. They
bounced back with a win at Orlando, but
the Heat will be a tougher challenge.
Wednesday:Bucks at Clippers. First
game between Antetokounmpo and Ka-
whi Leonard since last year’s Eastern
Conference finals. Enough said.
Thursday:Celtics at Hornets. First
game for Kemba Walker and Terry Ro-
zier against their former teams.
Friday:Nets at Trail Blazers. Kyrie Ir-
ving vs. Damian Lillard. First one to 50
wins.
Saturday: Mavericks at Grizzlies.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year, Luka
Doncic, going up against one of the fa-
vorites to win this year’s honor, Ja Mo-
rant.
Sunday:Raptors at Lakers. Defend-
ing NBA champions facing the one of the
teams favored to win it all this season.
Rankin writes the “Phoenix Suns In-
sider” column for AZCentral.comSuns, Heat among
early surprise teams
Duane Rankin
Columnist
AZCentral.com
USA TODAY NETWORKSPORTS USA TODAY z TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2019 z 5C
Shortly after LeBron James’ I Prom-
ise School opened in Akron, Ohio, Mi-
chele Campbell, the executive director
of James’ charitable foundation, identi-
fied a pressing need: transitional hous-
ing for students and their families who
are going through traumatic experienc-
es.
“Some are homeless, some live in
shelters, and we have a student who
was the victim of a gun invasion in their
home and watched his brother get shot
and a cousin get shot and die and he had
to go back in that home,” Campbell said.
“It was terrifying for him. I was unsure
how we were going to provide housing. I
knew we wanted to do it. I didn’t know
how we would do it.”
Enter Graduate Hotels and CEO Ben
Weprin. He knows James and his busi-
ness partners Maverick Carter and Ran-
dy Mims and took a tour of the I Promise
School in May.
“I met Michele and her team and was
incredibly inspired and blown away by
the mission and the execution – just the
overall vision of the I Promise School,”
Weprin said. “It was an eye-opener in
their ability to dream something so big
and then do it and will it to life.”
Weprin’s wife, Mary Ann, visited the
school two weeks later, and they wanted
to know how they could help. Camp-
bell’s answer? Housing. Weprin got to
work and partnered with the I Promise
School to purchase a historic Akron
apartment building and create the I
Promise Village by Graduate Hotels.
“Initially, our work was focused on
helping these kids earn an education.
But we’ve found that it is impossible to
help them learn if they are struggling to
survive, if they are hungry, if they have
no heat in the freezing winter, if they live
in fear for their safety,” James said in a
statement to USA TODAY Sports and
other outlets. “We want this place to be
their home where they feel safe, sup-
ported, and loved, knowing we are right
there with them every step of the way as
they get back on their feet.”
James knows this situation well. In
fourth grade, he missed 83 days of
school in part because he didn’t have
permanent or even transitional hous-
ing. He and his mother, Gloria, moved at
least a half-dozen times that school
year.
The I Promise School opened in 2018
and now has 343 students in grades
third through fifth with plans to expand
to eighth grade by the 2021-22 school
year. Beyond providing education to
students, the school offers parental re-
sources such as food, clothing, legal aid,
medical care, mental health assistance,
financial literacy, mentors and GED
classes.
Campbell sees the impact these trau-
matic environments have on a student’s
ability to learn.“If you’re coming to school and you
were on the street or in a shelter and
coming to school and placed in a class-
room to learn about math or read books,
there is no way those children can focus
on learning,” she said.
“Because they’re frustrated and
scared about what’s happening at
home, what we are seeing, especially
from young children who don’t under-
stand how to connect all of those dots,
when they put a book in front of them,
that’s when we’re seeing behaviors act
out. They don’t know how to necessarily
verbalize they’re frustrated or scared.
“In a typical school, when behaviors
act out, there’s punitive response and
you just push it deeper and deeper.
We’re trying to understand what behav-
ior is linked to and find the solution. We
knew we can help the behavior, help the
family and help the student learn.”The boutique hotelier, which special-
izes in creating hotel space in college
towns, will renovate and furnish the liv-
ing units. The building will open official-
ly in July, but Campbell said, “The reali-
ty is that we will be able to get in that
building as early as the third week of
January and if I had a family that was in
desperate need, we would move them in
while doing construction in another
area.
“We will be able to fill those units just
knowing off the top of my head certain
families and what’s going.”
When conversations with Weprin es-
calated, Campbell told him exactly what
she had in mind: a building within walk-
ing distance of the school. Weprin and
his team took it one step further and
found a building on the same side of the
street so students wouldn’t have to
cross a busy road.
“I Promise School gives people expo-
sure, hope and promise of a better to-
morrow and showing people what is out
there and what is possible,” Weprin
said. “We want to create an environ-
ment of storytelling and a building that
is safe, clean and comfortable and in-
spiring for the folks staying there and let
them know someone cares about them
and their value. It’s a humbling oppor-
tunity for us to be part of that journey.”
School officials will work with fam-
ilies to find permanent housing.
Whenever he’s asked what’s next for
the LeBron James Family Foundation,
the Lakers’ star doesn’t always have an
answer but says he and his team are in
the lab trying to come up with some-
thing. It’s a nonstop effort. They had no
plan to provide scholarships to Akron
students until they came up with the
idea. They had no plan to open a public
school for Akron’s at-risk students until
the idea arrived. And now this.
“This piece is so transformational –
moving a student from point A to point
B while still keeping the student in
school so they don’t fall further behind,”
Campbell said. “This is a huge game-
changer for us.”I Promise School addresses housing
Jeff Zillgitt
USA TODAY
This historic apartment building in Akron, Ohio, will be renovated to help house
families in the I Promise Village.LEBRON JAMES FAMILY FOUNDATIONNBA