Team USA Staying on a Luxury Cruise During Rio Olympics

The USA Basketball program has opted for a luxury cruise as its digs this summer.

Living conditions in the Olympic Village at the 2016 Rio Games are, um, less than ideal.

Both the U.S. men’s and women’s squads will be resting aboard the Silver Cloud during their quest for gold.

Per NPR:

The men’s basketball team, made up of 12 highly compensated NBA stars, has a tradition of opting for upscale digs ever since professionals were allowed to play in the Olympics in 1992. And the men’s team even stayed on a cruise liner once before, at the 2004 Games in Athens.

 

“USA Basketball teams haven’t stayed in the Olympic Village since the 1988 teams did,” says the federation’s chief media officer, Craig Miller. He adds, “Our teams are extremely active in supporting their U.S. teammates.”

 

The basketball team’s plans have been known since at least February, when The Sporting News cited Brazilian news agency UOL: […] “Rio tourism official Nilo Sérgio Felix told UOL two transatlantic liners will be used to host high-profile guests during the games. One will be home to the so-called Olympic family — International Olympic Committee members and insiders — and the other to guests of a ‘multinational company’ and the group many around the world still refer to as the ‘Dream Team.'”