Over the next two weeks, the Olympic Village in suburban Paris will host more than 14,000 athletes, but LeBron James will be a part of it. Neither did Stephen Curry, Breanna Stewart or any of the other men’s and women’s basketball players representing Team USA. at the Paris Games.
It’s not just because this year’s cardboard beds can’t be compatible with Joel Embiid’s 7-foot frame, or because the team is involved in the war over air conditioning in the heat of the French summer. USA Basketball has decided to make its own arrangements since 1992, when the NBA first allowed its players to participate in the Olympic Games and the Dream Team dominated the festival in Barcelona.
Most years, USA Basketball, the sport’s national governing body, has placed its athletes in luxury hotels outside the Olympic ecosystem, as was the case at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021, players staying at two previous Olympic Games, in Athens. in 2004 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, were a little more exotic, aboard cruise ships at the dock. But no matter where exactly they stay, it can accommodate two dozen star players, team staff and members of their family circle in around three hundred. Finding rooms is never easy or cheap.
Between USA Basketball’s spending and other resources provided through the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the State Department, Forbes estimates it will charge $15 million to send United States basketball teams to the Olympics, an astronomical figure compared to other sports. Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing and former CEO of USA Weightlifting, estimates that the cost of sending his 20 fencers to the Paris Olympics ranges from $300,000 to $400,000, adding up his organization’s contributions. and the USOPC. USA Weightlifting raised more than $300,000 through its “Tokyo Strong” campaign to cover its own expenses for 2021, according to public financial statements, and athletes remained outdoors in the Olympic Village at Prince Park Tower.
However, USA Basketball, which chose to comment for this article, has other desires and safety is a primary concern, given that the team historically includes some of the most high-profile athletes on the planet. During the 2008 Beijing Games, thousands of enthusiasts lined the exterior of the U. S. team’s hotel to watch Kobe Bryant. “It’s a little overwhelming and a little embarrassing to be fair to you,” Bryant told reporters 16 years ago. “I just try to blend in and, you know, I put my head down because I just need to be part of the mix. “
This year’s list includes some of the biggest stars in world sport, on and off the field. Collectively, the Men’s National Team raked in more than $600 million in the past year before taxes and agent fees, led by LeBron James, who ranked fourth among the world’s 50 highest-paid athletes with $128. 2 million in total earnings over the past 12 years. Months that ended in May.
Unsurprisingly, Novak Djokovic, who will compete in tennis with Serbia and is one of the few Olympians who can compete with basketball players in terms of star strength and earning potential, would leave the Village this year, as would Roger Federer and Serena Williams. He did so in 2008.
The off-site benefits go beyond safety, however, as groups can get more exercise based on their schedule, nutrition, and visits from family, who are not allowed into the village. USA Basketball also has more flexibility in room assignments than in the Village, where teammates become roommates. The goal, of course, is to create a distraction-free environment to focus on gold.
In the end, the reservation procedure lasts several years, according to a former USOPC director. The Olympic committee will stop at a long-term host city at least six years in advance and plan extensively how accommodations, transportation, educational camps and other points could accommodate other teams. When the characteristics are presented, the USOPC extends an invitation for a stop at USA Basketball, where the final decision on arrangements is made.
“You have to get, if you haven’t done it, at least some kind of memorandum of understanding or something like that before the end of the last Games,” says the former director. “What’s going to happen as soon as Paris is all going to leave for Los Angeles” for the 2028 Summer Games.
For Paris, USA Basketball fully rented the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador, a central hotel with about three hundred rooms, according to the former manager, who participated in contract negotiations between 2019 and 2020. There is a giant travel organization to accommodate not only the players but also to their families, staff, executives and NBA personnel. But if you still have additional gyms, USA Basketball can offer them for other sports. At the Tokyo Games, for example, golfers stayed at the basketball team’s hotel.
The expenses do not exclude accommodation, which would also include a five-star hotel in Lille for three organisational level matches. It will be necessary to organise the transport of the players to schools and matches, as well as the shipment of the team’s equipment to Paris. The USOPC is helping in some areas, such as access to a high-performance education center it built in Paris and economy class plane tickets for athletes. But the improvements, such as charter flights, fall on USA Basketball.
The NBA provides some security, as does the State Department. “It’s very secret,” explains the former director. “It’s all about eyes, ears and coordination with the locals to make sure everything is right. ” The State Department covers its own expenses and in some cases, the USOPC will complement its efforts by incorporating a local security agency.
In total, the cost of staying in the Olympic Village would be equivalent to around 10% of the expenses of the basketball teams in Paris, estimates the former director of the USOPC. USA Basketball can do it. According to public information, the nonprofit generated approximately $78 million in profits in the last 4 fiscal years ending September 30. About $38 million of that total comes from its licensing and marketing agreement with the NBA, adding up to $15. 5 million in 2021, the year of the last Summer Games.
“The only smart thing about basketball is that it has a lot of resources only between the national governing framework but, more importantly, between the NBA and the WNBA,” the former executive said.
And players will continue to have the opportunity to feel the surroundings of the Villa.
“We’re still out of this, but we have our time right before the opening ceremony,” Kevin Durant, who is competing in his fourth Olympics, recently told USA Today. “As we also practice other sports, we can walk around the village. So we have enough time there.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on August 8 to reflect the displayed location of the USA Basketball Hotel and the correct number of rooms of around 300.