Idan Ravin is “The Hoops Whisperer”…
Idan Ravin the “Hoops Whisperer” has made his way from working as a successful lawyer to becoming one of the best personal trainers in the world. With a clientele that includes athletes such as MVP Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, James Harden and many others, he has rightfully earned his title as one of the best in the business.
Ravin was raised in Washington D.C. His mother and father were both immigrants and strongly religious. Ravin stuck to his parents’ dreams of him being a doctor, lawyer, rabbi, or accountant. He chose to be a lawyer but was unhappy every step of the way. Ravin prayed that God would send him a solution to take him out of his misery. One day his prayers were answered.
Aside from being a basketball trainer, he is a critically acclaimed author and Dove Men + Care fitness + grooming expert. Not only can he offer fitness tips for athletes of all abilities, he can also recommend the best grooming products for guys living an active lifestyle. His story is inspiring because he never had any formal training in basketball and still raised just as high if not higher than those who have.
Can you speak about your transition from a lawyer to being a top personal trainer to some of the world’s greatest athletes?
I think it kind of starts many years before hand. I grew up in a religious family and I have immigrants. My dad’s from Russia and my mom is from Israel and my whole life they taught me some form of Jewish education. I fell in love with the game (basketball) when I was a kid but I didn’t have any resources. I taught myself fitness and training whatever I could do to make myself a better player. I had to push basketball aside because the way I grew up there’s only a couple acceptable career choices.
You can either become a rabbi, a doctor, a lawyer, or an accountant. I did what I was supposed to do and became a lawyer. I was so miserable I hated every second of it but growing up the way I did you tend to do what your family wants. I would pray that God would give me an escape from law and tell me what I was suppose to be doing. I would pray a lot but nothing ever happened.
One day outside of the YMCA there was an ad posted on the gym door to be the coach for this boy’s basketball team and I quickly signed up. A couple weeks in their parents were calling me and saying, “Idan I don’t know what’s going on I’ve never seen my kids so engaged in anything, what are you doing?”
At the end of the season I got a call from a parent and she asked me to come to practice a little bit early. I found out that all the boys threw their money together to throw me a pizza party. When I was working at a firm I end up running into a couple guys that I use to play with at the park and they were now professional athletes. So I said to them “hey you want to go to the gym and work on a few things” and I put them through things I had taught myself when I was a kid and they said it was great and asked if we could come back.
When you transitioned careers did you have any self-doubt?
I think that it leads me to what I called faith, when I was a kid I use to see faith in terms of religion because that’s all I knew. As I got older I saw faith in a broader definition, faith meant that I was finding my purpose, my direction, finding something that I was happy with. I think what drove me throughout this entire process was faith. I just had faith that this would all work out and I had faith in myself.
Can you speak a little bit about your partnership with Dove Men + Care fitness.
The thing that intrigued me about partnering with Dove is that its something that resonates with me and its apart of my book “The Hoops Whisperer”. One of the things is defining and humanizing the male athlete and apart of creating this line would eliminate the stereotype that they don’t care what they smell like or look like. So this Dove Men + Care line means something to me because it’s here for a guy who cares for himself and it’s a great way to be.
You have a lot of clients on different teams, do you root for your clients individually or do you have a personal favorite team?
No, ever since I was a kid I just rooted for individual players. So I just want all my guys to play well. I want Carmelo Anthony, Steph Curry, James Harden, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, my rookies Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, Willie Cauley-Stein. I just want all my guys to do well.
