5 best players in Cleveland Cavaliers history who never made the All-Star Game

All-Star Snub No. 3 - Anderson Varejao

LeBron James has always elevated his teammates to reach greater heights than before. When he joined the Cavaliers, he almost immediately pushed them to endless playoff runs. Upon his return in 2014, James helped Kyrie Irving and the Cavs to reach the postseason for the first time since he left for the Miami Heat.

Alongside James, players get better. One player who benefited from LeBron but never made an All-Star team was Brazilian-born big man Anderson Varejao. Beloved by the Cleveland faithful, the Wild Thing spent 13 seasons with the Cavaliers before retiring in 2021 and joining Cleveland's front office.

In the 2012-13 season, Varejao averaged 14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds. But, the LeBron-less Cavaliers sat in the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and Varejao dealt with injury woes throughout the year, keeping him out of All-Star considerations. During Varejao's time with LeBron, he typically served in a bench role behind All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Varejao earned All-Defense Second Team honors in 2009 after starting 42 games and playing 81. Unfortunately, Varejao was still absent from the All-Star list. Once again, given Varejao's secondary role and injuries, it is not unsurprising to hear he never etched his name in All-Star history. As Ilgauskas and James featured two consecutive All-Star rosters together, Varejao was simply never in the forefront for Cleveland enough to make his mark in the same way.