Team USA basketball players reject 'woke' Olympic Village cardboard beds in favor of opulent Paris hotel
PARIS, FRANCE: The USA basketball team—which has been dominating since the 1992 Dream Team'—has decided to shun the Olympic Village during the 2024 Paris Games.
LeBron James and Team USA basketball stars have chosen to stay at a luxurious hotel in Paris instead of the Olympic Village, where the beds are particularly long to fit their enormous frames.
Team USA basketball players chose to stay at opulent Paris hotel instead of Olympic Village
The Paris Olympic Village, which houses 14,000 athletes, is the size of 70 football fields and was built for about €2 billion (£1.7 billion).
Situated on the River Seine, spanning Saint-Denis, Saint Ouen, and L'lle-Saint-Denis in the north of Paris, the Olympic Village is reputed to offer top-notch amenities for its elite visitors.
Despite its astronomical building costs, harrowing tales about the Olympic Village's meager amenities have already surfaced online.
Meanwhile, NBA stars on both the men's and women's teams, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Britney Griner, and Brianna Stewart, have made reservations at the four-star Paris Marriott Opera Hotel.
The art deco facility is ringed by heavy security, with French Gendarmerie officers and private guards on duty, as reported by Daily Mail.
Each visitor has their identity verified, and NBA employees wear name tags bearing the association's logo, which reads 'Showcase,' to verify their legitimacy.
Even cyclists are prohibited from utilizing a cycle lane outside the hotel, while police obstruct traffic to permit the multimillionaires to go freely between their hotel and the training base.
Approximately 800 separate rooms within a covert opulent hotel in Paris are allegedly present home to stars and family members, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Breanna Stewart, and A'ja Wilson.
The team hotel is completely reserved from July 25 till the end of the Olympics the following week. Meanwhile, players can enjoy fine French cuisine and vintage cocktails at the four-star hotel of USA Basketball.
While some rooms have an eighth-floor view of the Eiffel Tower, others have wi-fi, bottled water, bathrobes, slippers, and Nespresso coffee makers.
The cost of the rooms ranges from about $225 to $500, with some suites costing more. Basketball fans expressed their excitement over meeting their NBA favorites in person.
Olympic Village in Paris draws criticism from athletes for its 'woke' conditions
Athletes have been harshly critical of the Olympic Village this summer due to its "woke" surroundings, which include cardboard beds in every room and no air conditioning.
To make this Games the most environmentally friendly ever, it has been reported that 60% of the food served to Olympians is vegan.
One of the first athletes to draw attention to the inadequate housing conditions was Team USA flag-bearer Coco Gauff, who stated that her team was compelled to leave the Village and stay in hotels because of the subpar living arrangements.
Some complaints have been about the rough cardboard beds, the lack of privacy and air conditioning, and the mediocre cuisine, which is definitely unacceptable in the world's food capital.
According to Forbes, the majority of American teams competing in fencing, weightlifting, or any of the other several Olympic sports will spend between $300,000 and $400,000 to send, lodge, transport, and secure their participants.
Meanwhile, the outlet estimated that the American basketball team's trip to the Olympics has cost $15 million because of their distinct requirements on food, security, schedule, delivery of specialized equipment, and family visits.
USA basketball teams have not stayed in Olympic Village since 1992 men's side led by Michael Jordan
USA basketball teams have not lived in the Olympic Village since the men's team—led by Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson—abandoned it in 1992 to live in an opulent hotel, setting a precedent.
This practice has its origins in the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan's 'Dream Team' visited Barcelona, Spain, and declined to stay in the Olympic Village, where sportsmen usually live.
The Dream Team was met with such intense Beatlemania-style fanfare that the NBA All-Stars were compelled to find a base at the Ambassador Hotel, located close to Las Ramblas, the city's major thoroughfare, per talkSPORT.
The Team USA basketball team has consistently followed this trend over the years, as seen by their stays on opulent cruise ships in Rio in 2016 and Athens in 2004.
