PHOENIX -- Oleksiy "Alex" Len was a good kid and willing grandson. Many weekends when he was younger, Len and his mother would visit his grandparents' home and help tend their sizable garden. It is one reason that Len's grandparents are a little safer today while their world in eastern Ukraine is in chaos.
Len's grandparents live about 20 kilometers outside Antratsyt, Ukraine, where violence between Ukraine loyalists and separatists seeking to reunite with mother Russia has been ongoing for months.
"It's insane," said Len, preparing for the start of the Suns' season Wednesday with his left pinkie in a splint because of a fracture.
A 7-foot-1 center, Len played a total of 36 minutes in two preseason games, but his playing time could be limited as he continues to recover. The Suns are committed to running even more this season, and the splint makes it a little more difficult for him to catch and shoot. He saw a doctor Monday and said he likely will wear the splint another three or four weeks.
Len can only hope that three of four weeks is enough time to enable his grandparents to resume a more normal life.
Len was raised in the Russian border province of Luhansk, which has been subject to some of the heaviest fighting since separatists began protesting in March, when Russian troops crossed the border. Former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted, and new elections were held Sunday. The two largest pro-Western parties in Ukraine had the most votes.
Len and his mother Skype home as often as they can, as they did again Monday morning.
"They are right in the area where all that stuff is going on," Len said of his grandparents.
"They told me this morning they heard bombs going off outside. It's crazy. They don't even go outside. They just sit in the house all day."
They are sustained by the vegetables and potatoes that are grown in the family garden while hoping that the bombing that has turned Antratsyt into a war zone gets no closer. Some time ago a shell struck the house of Len's aunt, but no one was home.
His mother just returned from a visit to Antratsyt, where she sat inside with her parents while her city wilted under the occupation.
"After 2 o'clock nothing works," Len said. "She saw tanks destroy bridges."
Len feels his grandparents are out of harm's way as long as the violence does not escalate.
"But still, you never know," he said. "Every day things can change. Somebody comes. You see tanks. You see all these people with guns and stuff."
Although Len is a citizen of Ukraine, he said the separatists have made it difficult for many to vote. Consumed by basketball at the University of Maryland and with the Suns, who selected him with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2013 draft, Len has not been home for 3 1/2 years.
He is not a politician and is unsure how to solve the unrest, but he does have a wish.
"I just want peace," said Len, who turned 21 on June 16. "I just want the war to stop and my grandparents not be in danger and everything to calm down. All I want is, I don't want people to get hurt. That's all I care about."
Len and his mother have tried to get his grandparents to move to the U.S. or at least away from the area, at least until the fighting subsides. His grandparents have visas that would permit them to travel at any time, but they remain unconvinced. There are the family pets, of course.
"My grandma (says) 'We've got dogs. We have to feed them,' " Len said, recalling one recent conversation.
"She cares about the dogs. She doesn't care about herself."
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