Golden State Warriors

Not everyone is surprised by Stephen Curry's rise to greatness

Published Dec. 12, 2015 12:29 p.m. ET

Brett Pollakoff

Idan Ravin is one of the most sought-after private basketball trainers around, and has worked with most of the NBA's biggest stars, including Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and LeBron James.

He also works with younger players before they make it to the pros, and courtesy of his partnership with Dove Men+Care, Ravin spoke with FOX Sports about what he saw in his time with Curry right out of Davidson, before the NBA Draft. And Ravin says that he tried to tell teams how special Curry would become, but that they simply wouldn't listen.

FOX Sports: When you look at what Stephen Curry is doing, there aren’t really any words to describe some of the moves he makes out there, and how he’s able to get his shot off so quickly. Not only is he one of the most deadly shooters in the game, but it doesn’t seem to matter how closely he's defended. It seems like if he gets that shot off, it has a high percentage chance of going in. You work with all these guys, elite athletes and basketball players. Does it even amaze you to see the type of stuff he’s been able to do?

Idan Ravin: Steph and I talk about this all the time. I think, actually, it’s affirmation. Because I know when I first had the chance to work with him after he left Davidson, I would tell these teams that would ask me about him, I’m like, he’s going to be revolutionary. He’s going to be unbelievable. He’s going to be so incredible. And they’d always just poo-poo it, they’d go, “yeah, he’s just your guy.” But I don’t have a percentage of his contract, I’m not his marketing agent, I’m not his publicist. I have no piece of anything, so I’m giving you a very objective opinion. I’ve worked with everyone, and this guy is going to be absolutely freaking amazing. And they dismissed it, right? He wasn’t this, he wasn’t that. I can confidently say that 99.9 percent of my evaluations of players have been correct, and they really did dismiss what I said. These days, Steph and I laugh: I told you so, I told you so, I told you so. I’m not surprised by where he is, I’m just excited to see where he’s going.

FS: Are you surprised that teams don't take your evaluations of players more seriously?

IR: Of course! But actually, does it surprise me? Not at all. I think that sometimes I’m not so impressed with the evaluation of talent and how some of these teams perceive their players. And I’ll say that very candidly. I think they’re very traditional in what they’re looking for, and when someone doesn’t fit that mold, they dismiss them. I’m not surprised at all (they missed on Curry), I think they overlook a lot of players.

That’s an oversight on their end, and it happens so often. How is it that one player is nothing on one team and then the next year becomes an All-Star on another? It happens pretty regularly. I don’t say, “now the player has worked extra-hard.” No, the player’s always worked hard. It’s just that the team did not know how to handle him, didn’t know what to do with him or couldn’t see what their gift was. And that to me is a gift itself.