USA Basketball men’s and women’s teams touched down in Rio Wednesday ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games.
Unlike the majority of the athletes competing, they are not being staying in the Olympic Village. Instead, they have a cruise ship all to themselves.
USA Basketball, consisting of some of the best athletes in their sport, is staying on The Silver Cloud, a cruise ship built in 1994 with six decks from Silversea Cruises. It has space for 296 guests, plus a crew over 222.
An average 10-day all-inclusive voyage on this boat costs over $7,000 per guest.
Paul George vs Kevin Durant in practice. (Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler/USAB)
Three-time NBA All-Star Paul George, who was raised in Palm Dale, California, had not swam in the ocean until earlier this year during a commercial shoot with Jeep down in Miami. Last week in Chicago, George revealed that he had never stayed on a boat before.
“Never done a cruise, never done a big ship, never been in the ocean on a boat,” he said. “I’m not an ocean guy.”
[George sits out final two exhibition games as Team USA readies for Rio]
Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever is also participating in the Olympics and is seeking her fourth straight gold medal.
“We do visit and go to the Olympic Village,” she said. “We’ll go there for the opening ceremonies, we’ll be there for the closing ceremonies and then people come in and out for appearances and stuff that we have to do. … For us, for the most part, it’s just when you see people around, out and about in the town doing different things, that’s probably the most that you interact with them [other athletes].”
The men’s and women’s teams are made up of 12 players each, plus the coaches and support staff. And, for obvious reasons, the boat docked in Rio will be heavily protected and away from other boats.
From efe.com:
A fence made of bulletproof material will keep the public away from the U.S. athletes, who will be guarded by some 250 Federal Police officers.
“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.
George shared the following photo on Wednesday, presumably from his cabin.
Meanwhile, in the Olympic Village, let’s check in on Andrew Bogut of the Australian Olympic Team (and Dallas Mavericks:
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/760306520039026688
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/760312402294501377
Photos of USA Basketball’s accommodations (courtesy of Silversea Cruises):
