When coaching youth basketball in 1999, Ravin's work caught the attention of
Steve Francis, a native of
Takoma Park, Maryland. After Francis participated in some of the training sessions, he recommended Ravin to other NBA players. Since then, Ravin has worked with some of the NBA's biggest stars including
Kobe Bryant,
LeBron James,
Chris Paul,
Kevin Durant,
Amare Stoudemire,
Dwight Howard,
Carmelo Anthony,
Stephen Curry,
James Harden, and
Blake Griffin. A feature of Ravin's workouts are the many distractions he creates while the players are doing ball handling drills. Examples include throwing tennis balls at players and requiring them to catch the balls as they dribble through a set of cones on a basketball court. At other times, Ravin has been known to tap players under the chin when they fail to keep their heads up as they dribble. Rarely do his workouts last longer than an hour and during the sessions Ravin is known for not raising his voice above the level of a normal conversation. Ravin's sports memoir, ''The Hoops Whisperer: On the Court and Inside the Head of Basketball's Best Players'' documents Ravin's journey from coaching youth teams to becoming one of basketball's most famous trainers. Published by
Penguin, the book released May 1, 2014. == References ==