Anderson Varejao
From Hoopedia
Anderson França Varejão (/vareʒɐ̃ũ/; born September 28, 1982 in Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo) is a Brazilian professional basketball player, who plays in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Varejão was selected by the Orlando Magic in the second round of the 2004 NBA Draft (30th overall) and traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with Drew Gooden and Steven Hunter in exchange for Tony Battie and two future second-round picks on July 23, 2004. He became a regular contributor for the Cavs, exciting fans and earning the nickname Wild Thing because of his energetic and relentless style of play. He does not like the nickname of "Sideshow Bob" but due to his hair, some people have called him that.
In his rookie season, he ranked first in the league in efficiency with a 1.58 steals-per-turnover ratio, though his average playing time was just over 14 minutes per game over the course of the season.
On February 21, 2006, fans at Quicken Loans Arena broke the Guinness World Record for "most people wearing wigs in a single venue" when 20,562 fans wore curly wigs given away before the game in celebration of Varejão's unique hairstyle. All fans in attendance were instructed to put the wigs on during a timeout.
As a big contributor during the Cavaliers' 2006 playoff run, Varejão grabbed 11.7 rebounds per 48 minutes. During the Conference Semifinal series against the Detroit Pistons, he shot over 80% from the free throw line and helped the Cavaliers win game 4 of the series by drawing a charge from Chauncey Billups with 29 seconds left to play and by preventing Richard Hamilton from making a potentially game-winning shot.
2006 FIBA World Championship Incident
On August 23, 2006, Varejão, playing for the Brazilian national basketball team, committed a controversial foul during a preliminary game of the 2006 FIBA World Championship against Greece. The foul involved Varejão's left elbow hitting Greek point guard Nikos Zisis' cheekbone. The incident resulted in a triple fracture of Zisis' face which required reconstructive surgery. Because of the injury, Zisis was unable to play with the Greek team in the remainder of the tournament. The Greek Basketball Federation sought formal FIBA disciplinary procedures against Varejão.
Varejão, however, has dismissed Zisis' allegations that the foul was malicious. He stated to the press that Zisis was unlucky and that he "should have known basketball is a contact sport." Varejão also mentioned that there were three referees and that all of them saw the foul as unintentional. "When I saw how severe the injury was, I tried to apologize to him, but he turned his back on me," he said.
