To win an NBA title, Anderson Varejao must prolong the misery of his adopted home

There’s a really good chance Anderson Varejao will get a championship ring this season. For starters, he’s on the Golden State Warriors, the team that’s favored to win the NBA Finals. But even if Golden State doesn’t win, he could receive a ring from their opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, for whom he played from 2004 until February.

Varejao is the first-ever NBA player to play for both finalists in the same season, putting him in a historically awkward situation. He’s one of the most beloved players in recent Cleveland sports history, and it’s now his job to prevent his long-suffering ex-home from getting its fervently awaited championship. And his most valuable skill isn’t necessarily his basketball talent, but rather his intimate familiarity with the Cavaliers.

Varejao began his NBA career with Cleveland in 2004 and quickly became a huge part of a young and growing Cavaliers team. As LeBron James grew into a world-beating superstar, Varejao grew into a dependable center. His steadfast defense frustrated opposing big men and his quick-sliding feet drew a million charges against opposing guards. He provided the energy and defensive passion for a Cavs team that contended in the Eastern Conference year after year. And when LeBron left, he stayed.

It was easy to see why Varejao became a fan favorite just from his play. He embodied hustle. If there was an opportunity to hurl his body to the floor, he did it. He threw his body in front of barreling opponents in hopes of drawing a charge. Game-in, game-out, Varejao risked injury for Cleveland -- and often received it.

But with Cleveland, it was more than that. Perhaps no city in America is crapped upon by outsiders more frequently than Cleveland. Sports often reinforce that sentiment. No matter the sport, Cleveland loses. Sometimes these losses are painful; in the case of the Browns, at least they always lose. For about half a century, sports have served as an extension of the feeling that there is nothing to love about Cleveland.

But Anderson Varejao loved Cleveland. He came from beautiful, tropical Brazil, but he embraced this cold, rusty place on the shores of Lake Erie. He fought hard when Cleveland was winning, he fought hard when Cleveland was losing. When LeBron left the place he was born for warmer, greener pastures, Varejao still battled for his adopted home. He risked -- and often received -- injury for this place.

On several times during Varejao’s tenure, Cleveland gave out wigs to match his trademark floppy hair.

Can you imagine wearing something as objectively hideous as Anderson Varejao’s hair on your head? And tens of thousands of people did it!

The wigs summarized a beautiful basketball love story. Cleveland loved Anderson Varejao in spite of a hairdo that would make Sideshow Bob cringe, and Anderson Varejao loved Cleveland back, even if nobody else did.

While the wigs were symbolic, the love was also made official in a loyalty-fueled contract extension. Varejao’s athleticism-based game was already deteriorating due to the normal aging process, but he’d also been hampered by a string of ailments. A torn ankle tendon held him to 31 games in 2011, a broken wrist held him to 25 games in 2012, a blood clot held him to 25 again in 2013 and he missed a month with back soreness in 2014.

Yet that offseason, the Cavs gave him $10 million a year through 2017, significantly more than any reasonable team should have paid him. An Achilles injury limited him to 26 games in 2015, and this year, he quickly fell out of Cleveland’s rotation.

Varejao pleaded for the opportunity to stay:

“If I go anywhere else and win a championship, it’s not going to be the same,” he said. “I want to win a championship in Cleveland. That’s where I want to stay. I love Cleveland.“But it didn’t make sense. In February, the Cavs had an opportunity to get Channing Frye. To make the salaries work, Cleveland dumped Varejao’s ugly contract on the Portland Trail Blazers, who instantly waived him.

While loyalty to Varejao would’ve been nice, acquiring Frye has given the Cavaliers a much better chance of winning Cleveland’s fervently awaited championship, as he’s been spectacular thus far in the postseason.

Varejao wrote an open letter to Cleveland:

There is nothing like walking on the streets on a freezing cold day and hearing fans scream your name, then stopping to talk to those same fans. There is nothing like looking into the crowd and seeing over 20,000 people wearing wigs to match your hair. That’s a feeling I will cherish for the rest of my life and never forget.The city of Cleveland is truly a special place... Home is where the heart is, and my heart will forever be in Cleveland.

But he had to carry on with his basketball career, and at the time, the Warriors needed a big man. Andrew Bogut had a strained Achilles, backup Festus Ezeli was recovering from knee surgery and even deep bench big man James Michael McAdoo had a toe injury. Varejao was available at the right time, and for a while, he was on the court every game.

But Bogut and Ezeli got healthy, leaving Varejao a deep, deep reserve. Golden State’s best lineup doesn’t even have a traditional center, with Draymond Green filling in. But when they do play a big man, it’s Bogut, then Ezeli or Mo Speights, unless Steve Kerr is feeling particularly creative.

Varejao is comfortably the fourth-best center on a team that doesn’t really need one. He’s currently 13th out of 15 Warriors in postseason minutes. He has played a few times in meaningful games -- he had an exceptionally active 1:51 stint in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, drawing a charge, recording two assists and finishing a falling layup -- but he probably shouldn’t play more than five minutes in a non-blowout.

But as a former Cavalier, he is inherently useful. Golden State could’ve signed any big man when it needed depth. It specifically chose Varejao, a player with knowledge of the inner workings of their most likely NBA Finals opponent. Sure, the Warriors can watch every minute of film from every game Cleveland has played this year, but Varejao has an inside understanding of how Cleveland will act when the going gets tough. He’s been LeBron James’ teammate for so many years. He knows the things that can beat him. He even got a few weeks of how the Cavs operate under new coach Tyronn Lue.

And so comes the awkwardness. Emotionally, Varejao is beholden to Cleveland. Probably financially, too, since the Cavs paid him $5 million this year and the Warriors have only paid him $500,000. But his job is to help beat those Cavs -- via actual basketball play or intelligence work -- so he can add a championship ring to his list of career achievements.

Although, to be fair, he might get a championship ring either way.