With all the horror stories that are coming out about the facilities for the Olympic athletes in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. basketball team can breathe a sigh of relief.
Instead of living in the Olympic village, both the men’s and women’s USA basketball teams will get to stay in a luxury cruise ship called “The Silver Cloud.”
The ship is absolutely massive. It can house 400 people and features 196 cabins. It’s going to be docked in Maua Port Terminal during the Olympic games.
Next stop… Rio! #USABMNT #USABWNT ??? pic.twitter.com/W4GLGWSjSs
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 3, 2016
It’s basically a fancy hotel that floats on the water. The ship’s security is also going to be extremely formidable. 250 federal police officers will be guarding it, and a bullet-proof fence is also going to be protecting the ship.
While these accommodations may seem slightly elitist, it’s really due to security more than anything else. These players are some of the most famous athletes participating in these games, which means their safety is more at risk.
It’s not unprecedented to keep Team USA basketball away from the Olympic village. The Dream Team in 1992 stayed in a fancy Barcelona hotel due to the amount of attention they were receiving, both positive and negative.
Charles Barkley was on that team, and he has talked about the misconception that the Dream Team didn’t stay in the Olympic village because they felt too good for it.
After five dominant exhibition victories, #USABMNT heads to Rio with sights on the gold: https://t.co/ZIibNeu3a3 pic.twitter.com/Z3Vs7FSWLE
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 2, 2016
That wasn’t the case at all. The players were getting death threats, so officials settled the athletes at an even more secure location.
The top priority of the site hosting the Olympics is keeping these athletes safe. The men and women of Team USA basketball are high profile targets. It’s a more secure location to ensure safety and well being.
The fact that it happens to be a luxury cruise ship is just one of the perks of being famous enough to warrant that type of security.
The improved facilities may also give Team USA a competitive advantage, although judging from their performances during their exhibition games, they don’t really need it.