The men and women’s US basketball teams have snubbed the Olympic Village and are instead staying in a luxury mega-yacht during the 2016 Rio Olympics. “We won by a lot of points but they made us better”. The ship has a library and a casino, and suites usually goes for about $13,000 a week, according to reports from the Daily Mail.
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The players are not staying in the Olympic Village with other athletes, trading in the cozy confines for a stay on a luxury cruise ship.
And it seems they’ve got the bookies on their side, too. The men’s and women’s team will be staying on the “Silver Cloud,” operated by Silversea Cruises.
The Olympic village, where athletes from all around the world stay during competition, is a risky place in Rio de Janeiro this time around.
And then there’s fellow Aussie basketball player Andrew Bogut.
Unlike the majority of Olympic athletes, U.S. basketball players are global celebrities, each worth millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements. The men’s team stayed on a cruise liner at the 2004 Games in Athens. “You can get anything-Chinese, turkey and chicken, hamburgers and French fries”. They’re not even staying at a regular hotel.
A Brazilian news agency noted that the ship “can accommodate up to 400 people in its 196 cabins, some of which have already been allotted to the USA men’s and women’s Olympic basketball teams”. USA women didn’t qualify teams for handball, synchronized swimming (a duet will compete), four-woman canoe and, surprisingly, archery (one individual will compete).
“The Federal Police will also have two boats… that they will use to prevent navigation near the vessel”, said Maua port terminal operations director Alexandre Gomes. Predictably, they got “bum-rushed going into the village”, according to Carmelo.
“We just have a great time”, Jordan said. Team USA is focused, and ready to block out the distractions; primed for gold.
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“I know what it feels like when the rest of the world was supposedly catching up with the US as far as basketball”, said the New York Knicks forward, who hopes to be the first male player to win three gold medals.
