HOUSTON
When they were younger Kai James followed her older brother, Joel, everywhere. Through dangerous streets that he made safer by his presence. To the comic book store, where he nurtured his passion for the Transformers.
She followed him to the Northwood Youth Empowerment Center, a haven for kids who grew up in the worst part of West Palm Beach, Fla., in a neighborhood, Kai said, where there were “different gangs that were literally right on our front door.”
That's where Joel James began to play basketball – in that youth center in that neighborhood. He was 15 then.