The Trainer Behind Those Improbable Plays

Around the N.B.A., the 39-year-old Ravin is called the Hoops Whisperer because of his ability to connect with players — many of whom are stars — with methods that are a little different.

These days, two of his prominent clients are Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Together, as Knicks teammates, they are engaged in an uphill battle against Boston in the first round of the N.B.A. playoffs — Stoudemire, who had back trouble in Game 2, is hoping to play on Friday — and they can only hope that whatever Ravin has done will help.

N.B.A. players often employ personal trainers to enhance aspects of their game and maintain others. The top trainers are spread out geographically. Tim Grover, who came to prominence for his work with Michael Jordan, is based in Chicago. Rob McClanaghan spends summers in Los Angeles working with Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and others.

Ravin is from Maryland and may be the most unlikely of the bunch. He is a former lawyer who carries no business cards and did not play basketball past high school. He does not recruit; instead he waits for players to ask for him after hearing about him by word of mouth.

“If you’re in the business of trying to sell, you’re in the business of trying to convince,” Ravin said.

While establishing himself as a trainer in Maryland, he connected with Steve Francis, an N.B.A. guard at the time, who began directing others to him. Ravin’s reputation soon blossomed, and he has since worked with, among others, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Rudy Gay. All those players already had talent, but it was Ravin’s goal to extract the most from it, using some ingenuity, psychology and whatever else that works.

“Idan knows skills work,” said Stoudemire, who began working with Ravin two summers ago. “He knows how to get you versatile.”