Anderson Varejão joined the Cavaliers as a Player Development Consultant and Global Ambassador in August 2022. He is responsible for assisting the Cavaliers in their ongoing mission to grow the game of basketball globally, while engaging with coaches and Cavaliers players in varying on-court development roles during the season. He also travels internationally for basketball and corporate events and activities.

In his first year, Varejão and the front office team were recognized for authentically building fandom in communities across Brazil and growing the game through the Cavs partnerships; their Brazil Project won the 2023 ‘NBA Team International Strategy of the Year’ award.

During his playing days in Cleveland, Varejão was a vital member of the Cavaliers back-to-back 60-win teams (66-16 in 2008-09 and 61-21 in 2009-10) and six playoff teams (2005-2010, 2015), including three Eastern Conference Finals, runs (2007, 2009, 2015) and the franchise’s first-ever NBA Finals appearance during the 2007 Playoffs. Over 13 seasons with the Cavaliers, Varejão appeared in 596 regular season games (208 starts) with averages of 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 24.9 minutes per contest. Nicknamed the “Wild Thing,” Varejão still ranks among the Cavaliers’ all-time Top 10 leaders in offensive rebounds (fourth, 1,486), defensive rebounds (seventh, 2,968), total rebounds (seventh, 4,454), games played (eighth, 596), blocks (eighth, 399) and steals (eighth, 529). He also earned NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors in 2009-10 and owns a share of the team’s single-game record for rebounds with 25 boards on January 2, 2014 versus Orlando. Additionally, Varejão played in 71 playoff games with Cleveland and ranks among the Cavaliers’ all-time postseason leaders in games played (71, tied for fourth), steals (67, fourth), offensive rebounds (147, fourth), defensive rebounds (258, sixth), total rebounds (405, sixth) and blocks (39, tied for seventh). In the 2019-2020 NBA season, after five years away from the organization, the Cavaliers signed their beloved fan-favorite, allowing Varejão to play his final NBA season wearing the Cavs jersey.

Before entering the NBA and becoming one of only seven players in Cavaliers history with 4,000 points and 4,000 rebounds, Varejão started playing basketball for Clube de Regatas Saldanha da Gama (Vitoria/Espirito Santo – Brazil) during his youth. From there, at age 16, he signed to play for Franca Basquete(Franca/Sao Paulo – Brazil), where he later joined the professional and Brazilian National teams. He played for Franca for four seasons, and his passion and intensity elevated him to join Liga ACB in Spain, where he won multiple championships playing for F.C. Barcelona, 2 Liga ACB, 2 Kings Cup, and in 2003, their first-ever EuroLeague title. He represented Brazil for over 20 plus years in different capacities of international play.

In addition to his 13 NBA seasons in Cleveland, Varejão had a brief stint with the Golden State Warriors, where he appeared in 36 games during parts of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, as well as 17 postseason contests. Following his stint with Golden State, Varejão played for Flamengo in the NBB (Novo BasqueteBrasil League) league in 2017-18 and 2018-19, where he was ‘MVP’ of the All-Star Game (2018) and champion of the Copa Super 8 and NBB 2019 title. He is the only professional basketball player to hold championships in the ACB league (Spanish league), Euro league, NBB (Brazilian league), and NBA.

In January 2023, Varejão was honored at the Cavs arena in an emotional tribute to his retirement, attended by family, friends, former coaches, and Legends of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Andy resides in Cleveland with his wife, Stacy Lyn, and their two children.