Current:Home > NewsUSA Basketball players are not staying at Paris Olympic Village — and that's nothing new-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
USA Basketball players are not staying at Paris Olympic Village — and that's nothing new
View Date:2024-12-23 22:44:50
PARIS – Blame the 1992 Dream Team.
If you want to know why the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team isn’t staying in the Olympic Village in Paris with other athletes and those much-discussed cardboard beds, you can trace it back to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and the squad who altered the course of Olympic basketball – while staying in a luxury hotel in Barcelona.
That was the first group of NBA players to play in the Olympics, and they were used to first-class accommodations and were not willing to give those up. Plus, they were among the most famous people in the world and were hounded everywhere they went. Security was cited as a concern.
Each U.S. Olympics basketball team after has followed that model.
Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
Meet Team USA: See which athletes made the U.S. Olympic team and where they are from
Asked about not staying in the Olympic Village, U.S. star Kevin Durant said, “I don’t think we had a choice,” adding, “I haven’t gotten into any (cardboard) beds since I’ve been doing this whole thing.”
The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball players are among a few athletes who do not stay in the village. Tennis star Novak Djokovic is not in the village. Roger Federer and Serena and Venus Williams also stayed elsewhere during the 2008 Beijing Games. USA Track and Field would not confirm nor deny to USA TODAY Sports if its high-profile athletes, like Noah Lyles and Sha'Carri Richardson, are staying in the Olympic Village, citing security.
Durant, who is participating in his fourth Olympics, has spent time in the village at previous Games and will do so again this year.
“The last few times I've done the Olympics, we've spent our fair share in the Olympic Village and felt like a part of the group there,” Durant said. “We stay outside of it, but we get our time right before the opening ceremony. As we go to other sports as well, we get to walk through the village. So I think we get enough time there.”
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
veryGood! (5846)
Related
- Congress is revisiting UFOs: Here's what's happened since last hearing on extraterrestrials
- Zelenskyy picks politician as Ukraine's new defense minister 18 months into Russia's invasion
- World War I memorials in France and Belgium are vying again to become UNESCO World Heritage sites
- Teenage rebellion? Dog sneaks into Metallica concert, delighting fans and the band
- ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
- Voting rights groups ask to dismiss lawsuit challenging gerrymandered Ohio congressional map
- Mark Meadows, 5 more defendants plead not guilty in Georgia election case
- Best back-to-school tech: Does your kid need a laptop? Can they use AI?
- Stock market today: Asian stocks decline as China stimulus plan disappoints markets
- Gary Wright, 'Dream Weaver' and 'Love is Alive' singer, dies at 80 after health battle: Reports
Ranking
- CRYPTIFII Introduce
- Diddy to give publishing rights to Bad Boy Records artists Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Faith Evans
- Missing artifacts from WWII Nazi code breaker and a father of modern computing found with Colorado woman
- First lady Jill Biden tests positive for COVID-19
- Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
- NFL head coach hot seat rankings: Ron Rivera, Mike McCarthy on notice entering 2023
- Cozy images of plush toys and blankets counter messaging on safe infant sleep
- Four men die in crash of pickup trucks on rural Michigan road, police say
Recommendation
-
10 Trendy Bags To Bring to All of Your Holiday Plans
-
University of Arkansas gets $2.5 million grant to study exercise and aging
-
Alex Murdaugh seeks new trial in murders of wife and son, claiming clerk tampered with jury
-
3 rescued from Coral Sea after multiple shark attacks damaged inflatable catamaran
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
How RHOSLC Star Jen Shah's Family Is Doing Since She Began Her 5-Year Prison Sentence
-
Clemson football, Dabo Swinney take it on chin at Duke. Now they must salvage a season.
-
Body of Maryland man washes ashore Delaware beach where Coast Guard warned of rip currents