The gold on Anderson Varejao’s jersey is now a California yellow and the Cavaliers’ wine has been replaced with a midnight blue. As he surveys the practice facility adorned with retired Golden State Warriors logos and jerseys, Varejao still shakes his head in disbelief.
“If you told me at the start of the season I’d be here, I never would’ve believed it,” he told me after a morning walkthrough last week. “With my contract, how could anyone have predicted this?”
Varejao’s game fits perfectly with his new team. His trademark hair has been trimmed — he did that the morning after the trade because it was too long and aggravating him — but his game remains the same. He plays hard, sets good screens, rebounds and generally finds ways to make winning plays.
He is settled in as much as a man living in a hotel without his wife can feel settled. This is the wrong time of year to rent in the Bay Area, particularly since he’s looking for a short-term lease. It has been three weeks since he signed with the Warriors as a free agent, yet he remains in the Oakland hotel that also houses the team’s practice facility. His wife, Marcelle, has been tending to matters in Brazil, although she was expected to join him in Oakland this weekend.
He was at Cleveland Hopkins airport to pick her up when his cellphone rang the day of the NBA’s trade deadline. It was Cavs General Manager David Griffin calling. Varejao didn’t even have to answer to know what Griffin was going to say.
“My wife was devastated,” Varejao said. “They take it a lot harder than we do. We understand it’s part of the business. They put a lot of heart into it. It was tough — really tough.”
Varejao put his heart into Cleveland, too, for 12 years. He couldn’t even speak English when he arrived, but he penned an emotional goodbye letter following his departure. The fans’ outpouring of love on social media after the trade touched him. He watched the viral video of the little boy sobbing after his dad told him Varejao was gone. He read letters from fans, including a thank-you note that left him with a lump in his throat.
The reaction to the trade was so overwhelming, Varejao said it actually helped him heal and move on a bit faster. Griffin made it clear to Varejao that he didn’t want to trade him, but would if he had to. Once the Cavs knew they were getting Channing Frye, they needed to dump Varejao’s money to relieve some of the crushing tax burden they’re facing.
“At first, I couldn’t believe it. It’s like, is that true that I’m not going to be there tomorrow? I heard some stuff the night before, but I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Varejao said. “What the fans did after I got traded, that kind of gave me power to keep going. They love me this much? I think I did the right thing. Now I have to move on.”
Aside from the team being the favorite to repeat as champion, the decision to join the Warriors was simple. He had ties to Shaun Livingston, Mo Speights and assistant coach Luke Walton, who were all former teammates of his in Cleveland.
Fellow countryman Leandro Barbosa called him with the sales pitch, but he didn’t need much convincing. After his high-priced contract was dumped on the Portland Trail Blazers and he was released, Varejao knew fairly quickly where he wanted to go. It also helped that Warriors coach Steve Kerr promised him a spot in the rotation.
Varejao sat out the first night with his new team because he wasn’t really acclimated, but he has played in every game since and is averaging about 10 minutes a night. It isn’t much, but it’s a consistent role on a team marching toward history.
The part about all of this that really upsets him, however, is the belief his praise of the Warriors somehow doubles as a dig at his old teammates. When Varejao said shortly after joining the Warriors it was evident how much the guys loved each other, that was interpreted to mean Varejao was subtly referring to problems in the Cavs’ locker room.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Varejao said. “That’s crazy. I would never do that. That’s not in my personality. I’m not like that. I loved the guys in Cleveland. I’m just talking about what I have here.”
Of course, Varejao wants a championship, but if the Warriors get upset before the NBA Finals, he admitted he’ll be rooting for the Cavs. And should they meet again in an NBA Finals rematch?
“That would be crazy,” he said. “I still don’t know about that. We know it could happen, but still a lot has to happen to get there. That would be crazy.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.