Varejao eager for Brazil trip

Anderson Varejao said the Cavaliers’ trip to Brazil could be one of the highlights of his career.

The Cavaliers left after practice Oct. 7 for their 10-hour flight to South America.

They will face the Miami Heat at 6 p.m. Oct. 11 in Rio de Janeiro. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN.

“I’m excited,” Varejao said after practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. “Everybody here is excited. It’s going to be a good trip. It’s going to be one of those things that I’m going to remember forever in my career, that I went to Brazil to play with my NBA team. It is a great thing for me. It’s a big deal for my family, for my friends, for everybody in Brazil that are expecting to watch a very good basketball game. I can’t wait.”

The Cavaliers will make time for some sightseeing.

“We probably are going to go to the Christ Redeemer,” Varejao said. “We’re going to go to Sugarloaf, a couple mountains we have there. Once you get all the way to the top, you have a nice view of the city and everything. But we’re going to have to take those cable cars. It’s a little scary, but we’ll be fine.”

Varejao, a native of Brazil, plans on hosting a little party for the team in Rio.

“It is a good thing for us to spend more time together,” he said. “This is good to get to know everybody better. It’s a good trip for us for that, too.”

Cavaliers operations director Mark “Cobra” Cashman scouted the area beforehand to find the top restaurants and hot spots. Varejao recommends the team visit a Brazilian steakhouse.

Varejao said the Brazilian people are very excited about the preseason game.

“They’re going to go a little crazy because it’s new for all of them,” he said. “I believe it’s going to be a great experience for them.

“It’s going to be one of those things that

I’m going to remember forever in

my career, that I went to Brazil to play with my NBA team.”

I’m going back to Brazil to play. It’s a great thing. I’m excited, and I can’t wait to get there.”

Cavaliers coach David Blatt said it’s an honor to be invited to one of the NBA’s Global Games.

“It means a lot to the NBA,” he said. “It means a lot to basketball globally. It means a lot for us to be chosen and to play against the Miami Heat, a four-time finalist in the last four years.

“I like the fact that we allow the players to exercise their minds as well as their legs. This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day, to go to Rio, to go to Brazil, to see a different culture, meet different people and represent our game the way we should. You have to take full advantage of it.”

This will mark LeBron James’ first meeting against the Heat. He played in Miami the previous four seasons.

“I think everyone is cognizant of the fact that LeBron is playing against his old team and playing against a team that had great success and that he had great success,” Blatt said.

The fact it’s at a neutral site is probably a good thing.

It takes the pressure off both sides,” Blatt said.

Varejao, who will likely start at center, might be a bigger story than James in Brazil.

“We’re cognizant that Andy is going home,” Blatt said. “It means a lot to him, and it means a lot to us.

“He’s going to tell everyone what to do because he’s the one who speaks the language and knows what to do. We’re going to listen closely, carefully and ardently.”

Varejao suggested the players bring their Speedos on the trip. Blatt said he won’t follow suit.

“I, unlike the players,” he said, “I wisely have decided not to bring a Speedo.”