Last Updated on July 23, 2026 by Mat Diekhake

Anderson Varejão built his reputation through relentless energy, diving for loose balls, battling for rebounds, and doing whatever was needed to help his team win. His hustle-heavy style and willingness to embrace the less glamorous parts of the game made him a valued teammate and a favorite among fans who appreciated effort as much as talent.

Here is detailed information about basketballer Anderson Varejão:

Player Profile

  • Full Name: Anderson Miguel Varejão
  • Nationality: Brazilian
  • Date of Birth: September 28, 1982
  • Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil
  • Height: 6 ft 9 in (206 cm)
  • Weight: 250 lbs (113 kg)
  • Wingspan: 7 ft 0 in (213 cm)
  • Shoe Size: Size 16 (US)
  • Number: Wore #17 during his career
  • Position: Power Forward / Center
  • High School: (Brazilian)
  • College: None (played professional basketball in Brazil before joining the NBA)
  • NBA Draft: 2004, 2nd round, 30th overall pick by the Orlando Magic (but traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers)
  • Teams Played For:
    • Cleveland Cavaliers (2004–2016)
    • Golden State Warriors (2016–2017)
    • Returned briefly to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017–2018 before retiring
  • Championship Rings: 1 (with the Golden State Warriors in 2017)
  • Kids: Anderson Varejão is married to Fernanda Varejão, and they have one child, a son.
  • Siblings: Varejão has a sister named Leila.

Player Archetype / Play Style

Anderson Varejão was an energy big in the truest sense, a hustle-driven center-forward whose value came from defense, rebounding, screening, and nonstop activity rather than polished shot creation. At 6-foot-11 and around 260 pounds, he had legitimate size, a high motor, quick reactions, and unusual mobility for a frontcourt player, which helped him play bigger than a typical complementary big. Defensively, he served as a rugged interior helper who could contest around the rim, battle on the glass, rotate hard, and bring the kind of effort that lifted a team’s physical edge. Offensively, he fit best as a support piece, creating value through offensive rebounding, dive-man finishes, put-backs, and screen-setting instead of low-post isolation or perimeter scoring. In full, Varejão’s style was all about relentless energy, toughness, and dirty-work impact, making him the sort of big man who changed possessions through effort as much as talent. (NBA)

Scouting Report

Anderson Varejão made life uncomfortable in ways that rarely showed up in a box score. What stands out is how often he disrupted the rhythm of an offense before the shot ever went up, hedging hard against pick-and-rolls, recovering with surprising balance and forcing ball handlers to change direction just long enough for teammates to reset the possession. He wasn’t chasing blocks. He was trying to make every drive arrive half a second later than planned, and that subtle difference mattered. Offensively, his value came from movement rather than creation. He set physical screens, flipped his angles at the last moment to free ball handlers, rolled into open space with excellent timing and kept possessions alive by beating bigger players to loose rebounds. The interesting thing is that he understood when not to force a finish. If help collapsed early, he’d quickly shovel the ball to a teammate or reset through a DHO instead of attacking into traffic. There were limitations. Defenses that ignored him outside the paint could shrink driving lanes, and he wasn’t the type of center who punished switches with polished post scoring or stretched the floor enough to alter coverages. That’s the trade-off. His offensive impact depended on constant activity and teammates who recognized the advantages his screening created. Defensively, though, he consistently made the correct low-man rotation, tagged rollers with discipline and rarely lost sight of the next action while tracking the ball. To me, Varejão fit best beside dynamic perimeter creators who needed a screener willing to do the dirty work possession after possession without demanding touches in return. His game has shades of Joakim Noah because of the relentless screen setting, mobility and connective passing, while there are elements of Kevon Looney in the way he quietly generated extra possessions through positioning, anticipation and an understanding that the best play was often the one that allowed someone else to shine.

NBA.com — Anderson Varejao | Forward | NBA.com
Basketball Reference — Anderson Varejão Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more
Bleacher Report — Why Anderson Varejao Is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Biggest X-Factor
Fear the Sword — 2014 Cleveland Cavaliers Player Preview: Anderson Varejao