Just over two weeks until the start of the 2206/27 regular season for the Cavaliers. Today, the number 17, really only has one major player, but has had four different players wear the jersey.
Yesterday, with the history of 18 , it had another fan favorite in Cleveland in Matthew Dellavedova. Today, it is Anderson Varejao, but what about the others?
Washington was the first number 17 for the team in their first season of NBA basketball. Before getting to Cleveland, he played a few games in the ABA in 1969.
He played two seasons in Cleveland for a total of 116 games. In those games, he averaged 6 points a game.
More known for his time in Los Angeles and the Lakers, Smush played his rookie season for the Cavs. In 66 games his rookie year, he averaged 6.2 points per game.
Now we go onto maybe a player that some fans believe should have his jersey hanging in the rafters. Wild Thing played for 13 years in Cleveland and went through the best and worst of times on the team.
Varejao became a fan favorite because of his hustle and chaos on the court, which got him the nickname Wild Thing. He battled for offensive rebounds, dove for loose balls, and led the league in charges drawn in the NBA in 2007 knowing how to tow that fine line between flops and fouls.
After arriving on the team in 2004 after being traded there alongside Drew Gooden from Orlando, he became the premiere pick-and-roll partner with a young LeBron James and one his closest friends on the court.
While playing with LeBron that first time around one of his best seasons in 2010 got him named to an All-Defensive team and had a few votes for Defensive Player of the Year.
During that four year departure of LeBron, he was that leader of the team alongside Kyrie Irving and played some of his best offensive basketball of his career.
His time in Cleveland ended on a sour note when he was traded to the Golden State Warriors in the season that the Cavs won a championship in 2016. Because he was on the Warriors and the Cavs, he was guaranteed a ring but rejected it from the Cavs after playing against them in the Finals.
The next season when Golden State won, they had released him, but he accepted their championship in the end.
In 2021, he returned to the Cavs to end his career after playing in his home country Brazil for three years. Signing a 10-day contract so he could end his career with the Cavs.
Varejao sits top 10 in games played, blocks, and steals. He is 1 of 7 players to have over 4,000 points and 4,000 rebounds for the team as well.
Now, he serves as a Player Development Consultant and Global Ambassador for the team after he retired.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/cavaliers/onsi as Counting Down the Cavs: Breaking Down the Number 17 in Cavaliers History .
