The Hoops Whisperer Pipes Up: Ravin Talks Training Melo, CP3 and KD in New Book

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The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Heads of Basketball?s Best Playersthis Jordan Brand ad with Carmelo AnthonyWhisperer


You're plenty busy with this work and are known for keeping workout sessions extremely private. What made you write a book?You got laid off from a lucrative desk job and didn?t hesitate to go all-in when players started to call. What did it take for you to leave that security behind?You start the book by talking about teaching yourself to play with no real guidance and then going on to jump into this job, which isn?t a job. There?s no job description, there?s no roadmap. How do you decide that you?re going to direct all your time and energy into something that there?s no real plan for?

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A lot of the book concerns itself with trusting the path and intuition. On the cover there are these quotes from elite NBA players and people will look at whom you?ve worked with and buy the book based on that. Do you think that this book is going to appeal to more than just the endemic basketball fan?Outwardly, you do not look like the players you work with, you don?t have a traditional ?NBA personnel? background. Why do you think you?ve been able to develop this core of very elite athletes? the elite of the elite of the NBA?that want to work with you? What do you think translates about what you do and how you approach the game?In the book there?s some talk about drills but most of the descriptions about what goes on in the gym is about creating an environment where you can fail and feel OK failing and learning from it. Why?s that so important to this story?


That sounds less mystical than how people usually describe your work. I wanted to ask you about the ?Hoops Whisperer? nickname you?ve been given. Where does that come from and how you feel about it?What?s striking to me is that none of the things you talk about in the book are particularly ?Zen? or ?New Ag?e?it?s pretty much about creating respect one-on-one with players. You talk about creating an environment where people can learn, or be singleminded about developing their talent. Is that somehow different from how NBA players are being talked to, generally?And how do players respond to that?

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