The Cavaliers practiced at Cleveland Clinic Courts before they departed for Brazil for this year’s NBA Global Games. And they’ll practice again on Thursday and Friday in preparation for Saturday’s preseason matchup with the Heat. But on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, it was a chance to get away from hoops for a day and take in some scenery.
Some scenes from Day 1 …
* The Cavaliers were originally scheduled to make a trip to see the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue which literally lords over Rio from atop the Corcovado Mountain. But an electrical problem prevented the squad from doing so. Instead, much of the team (the ones who don’t have a problem with extreme heights) made the journey to Pao de Acucar, or Sugar Loaf Mountain.
The journey to the top requires a cable car trip which takes visitors from the bottom (Red Beach) to the midway point (Urca Hill, about 656 feet high) and finally up to Sugar Loaf (about 1,300 feet) – all stretching across the gorgeous panorama of the Guanabara Bay. The cableway system is one of the safest in the world, but Austin Carr was still sweating it out the entire way – all while providing comic relief to rest of the traveling party (which included Kyrie Irving, Coach David Blatt, GM David Griffin, Brendan Haywood, Matthew Delladova and, of course, Anderson Varejao.)
At one point from along the white-knuckle journey, we noticed two workers, on what might be described as a bare-bones maintenance cable car, hung outside the car doing small repairs hundreds of feet above the water. Even Varejao – a veteran of the Sugar Loaf lift and whose nickname is the Wild Thing – had to exclaim: “Oh, HELL no!!”
* Nevermind the Cavaliers, the NBA couldn’t possibly find a better international ambassador than Varejao – a guy who just “gets it.” Andy represents his team, his league and his country with such grace and aplomb that it’s easy to see why he’s beloved in both hemispheres. He stops to shake hands and talk to fans and never refuses to pose for a photo. And he does it all with his trademark smile. Andy’s one of the true good guys of the NBA.
* Before the team departed from Cleveland for Brazil, Coach Blatt relayed the travel advice that Andy had for his teammates: “Pack your Speedos.”
And if you do any amount of walking on Copacabana Beach, you’ll see more than your share of men in Speedos. (No, seriously: MORE than your share.)
* Beachgoers must have been floored (beached?) to see this group of Cavaliers sitting in a row, soaking up oceanfront rays: LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and James Jones. (Thankfully, they all ignored Varejao’s advice; none of them were wearing Speedos.)
* A friend and fellow Cavs beat writer told me a funny story; it’s worth sharing.
He and his wife arrived a day earlier and were having dinner at one of the cool little beachside cafes along Copacabana Beach. On separate occasions, different kids had approached their table asking for “dinero.” Finally, one little guy came up and got a little too close to said writer and asked for dinero. When the writer refused, the child threw a rock in his drink. A rock!!
I actually hope that happens to me before we leave on Saturday.