The
Whisperer
I
Robert Gluck
JNS.org
I
dan Ravin's friends chipped in to buy
him a humble, but life-changing, bar
mitzvah gift — a basketball hoop his
father attached to the roof of the fam-
ily's home garage. Little did Idan's friends
know that — years later — he would be
the personal trainer of National Basketball
Association stars Carmelo Anthony, Kevin
Durant, Dwight Howard and Stephen
Curry.
Ravin's new book, The Hoops Whisperer:
On the Court and Inside the Head of
Basketball's Best Players, details his rise
from a Jewish upbringing to becoming a
well-respected figure in NBA circles —
despite the fact he never played college or
professional basketball.
Using unorthodox drills and improvisa-
tional techniques to improve their games,
Ravin is sought after by many players and
has reportedly turned down full-time posi-
tions with NBA teams to keep working one-
on-one with the stars.
"I never imagined that when I first
worked with Idan before my rookie year,
our relationship would extend more than
a decade," Carmelo Anthony says on the
back cover of the book, which was released
in May.
"He has influenced me tremendously,
and I am very grateful for his loyalty,
friendship and guidance. He is passionate
about everything he does, and while some
consider his methods unorthodox, the end
results for me have been remarkable:'
Born to an Israeli mother and Russian
father, Ravin grew up in Washington, D.C.,
in a Conservative Jewish home. His parents
were raised in observant families and chose
careers in Jewish education. Both taught
Judaic studies at Jewish schools and at
synagogues, spoke mostly Hebrew and lived
modest lives.
"All of it made me who I am," Ravin tells
JNS.org. "When I was younger, religion and
faith had one meaning; but as I grew up, it
took on a broader meaning. It became more
of living a life of faith.
"The [NBA] players and I sort of live par-
allel lives because we both found something
74
October 2 • 2014
Author
Idan Ravin:
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that we love very much, and only faith can
push you through such a nontraditional
journey:'
How does Ravin connect with high-profile
NBA stars?
"There are several levels," he says.
"Obviously, when I walk into a room
with them, they are sophisticated guys and
are incredibly bright — even though some
people don't think they are.
"If I don't believe in my 'gospel: and my
gospel' does not make sense, they won't lis-
ten. Within two seconds, they let you know
you're selling magic beans, and they will
never let you have another moment with
them. Something about what I'm saying and
doing resonates substantively with them:'
While he attended the Charles E. Smith
Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md., basket-
ball took hold of Ravin. He practiced shoot-
ing alone in a nearby park, ran sprints in the
cold, shoveled snow for a patch of driveway
to practice ball-handling skills at home and
came up with his own drills because he had
no access to coaches, mentors or trainers.
Although he played varsity basketball for
most of his high school career, Ravin was
never recruited to play college hoops and
ended up majoring in finance and mar-
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keting at the University ofMaryland. He
went on to attend law school, and coached
a middle school YMCA basketball team
through a successful season in California
while unhappily practicing law.
His deep love for the game and his refusal
to give up led him to his current line of work,
starting when he helped Maryland acquain-
tance and future NBA player Steve Francis.
"Just because someone plays the game
does not mean he has a monopoly on wis-
dom," Ravin says.
"Not every CEO is a Harvard MBA. Not
every amazing director has a film degree
from USC's film school. Yes, there are some
things those guys have that I do not have.
But obviously, there are a lot of experiences
and knowledge I have that those other guys
do not have:'
The Hoops Whisperer reveals Ravin's gifts
of intuition, sensitivity to players' rhythms
and the ability to motivate, inspire and com-
municate with them.
Readers get a behind-the-scenes look at
stars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Chris
Paul and others who have benefited from
Ravin's training.
In Chapter 21, the author details his trips
to Israel as a young boy, including how his
family stayed with his mother's parents in a
small two-bedroom apartment in the Hadar
neighborhood of Haifa.
"Fast-forward 20 years. I returned to Israel
dribbling a ball, this time with New York
Knicks All-Star forward Amar'e Stoudemire,"
Ravin writes.
"Amar'e felt spiritually connected to Israel
and Judaism, inspired by his mother's affin-
ity for the religion. To prepare for his [2010]
trip, Amar'e studied Hebrew with my mom.
She taught him some expressions he could
toss at the Israeli media:'
Ravin took the Knicks star to the Yad
Vashem Holocaust Memorial, where he saw
Stoudemire's emotional response to a tour
guide's stories of the brutality inflicted on
Jewish children by the Nazis.
In the book, Kevin Durant says Ravin "is
the first guy I have worked with who brought
something different to the workouts, who
pushed me past my limits, who made me
think of the game on a different level:'
"Idan believed in me when others didn't,"
says Knicks guard J.R. Smith. "He challenged
me when others couldn't. He cheered for me
when others stopped. He praised me when
others wouldn't. He stood by me when others
ran:'
Ravin's book was even the subject of a
rabbinical sermon at Temple Sinai in Los
Angeles. The inspiration was a quote from
the beginning of The Hoops Whisperer, in
which Janusz Korczak, a doctor who ran an
orphanage during the Holocaust, explains
how he was able to save many of the chil-
dren's lives.
"The quote is essentially the idea of how
important it is to play:' Ravin says.
"No matter what situation you're in, or
how silly it might feel to somebody else, or
how tragic something might be, it is impor-
tant to always connect with that idea of play-
fulness in your childhood:'
The book's use in a synagogue sanctuary,
rather than on a basketball court, is illustra-
tive of Ravin's broader goals for the volume's
influence.
"It's connecting with a lot of people in a
lot of different ways," Ravin says. "It's not a
basketball book; it's not a training book It's a
book about life'
❑
The Detroit Pistons open their sea-
son on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at home
against the Chicago Bulls.