Over the next two weeks, the Olympic village in the Paris suburbs will host more than 14,000 athletes, but LeBron James will be one of them. Neither Stephen Curry, Breanna Stewart nor any of the other men’s and women’s basketball players who represented the U. S. team 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 for 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 Olympics and the Dream Team dominated the festival in Barcelona.
For most years, USA Basketball, the sport’s national governing body, has placed its athletes in luxury hotels outside of 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, they were a bit more exotic, aboard cruise ships at the dock. But no matter where exactly they’re staying, accommodating two dozen star players, team staff, and members of their household circle in around three hundred, finding rooms is never easy or cheap.
Between USA Basketball’s spending and other resources provided through the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the State Department, Forbes estimates it will charge $15 million to send US basketball groups to the Olympics. 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 is between $300,000 and $400,000, adding contributions of your organization and the USOPC. USA Weightlifting has raised more than $300,000 through its “Tokyo Strong” program. “crusade to cover their own expenses for 2021, according to public financial statements, with athletes remaining outdoors in the Olympic Village, in Prince Park Tower.
However, USA Basketball, which declined to comment for this article, has other desires and protection is a primary concern, given that the team historically includes some of the most accomplished athletes on the planet. During the 2008 Beijing Games, thousands of enthusiasts lined up outside the US team hotel to catch a glimpse of Kobe Bryant. “It’s a little damning and a little embarrassing to be fair to you,” Bryant told reporters 16 years ago. “I’m just looking 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 number four 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 for Serbia and is one of the few Olympians who can compete with basketball players in terms of strength and earning potential, would leave the Villa this year, as would Roger Federer and Serena. that in 2008.
The off-site benefits, however, go beyond safety, as teams can put more effort into their schedule, food, and visits from family circle members, who are not allowed to enter the village. USA Basketball also has more flexibility in room allocation. 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 takes several years, according to a former USOPC director. The Olympic committee will call at a long-term host city at least six years in advance and will plan extensively for how accommodation, transportation, educational camps and other points could be adapted to other teams. When the features are presented, the USOPC extends an invitation for a stopover at USA Basketball, where the final decision on arrangements is made.
“We have to get, if not done, at least some kind of memorandum of understanding or something like that before the last Games end,” says the former director. “What will happen as soon as Paris is over, everyone will be heading towards Los Angeles” for the 2028 Summer Games.
For Paris, USA Basketball rented the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador in its entirety, a centrally located hotel with about three hundred rooms, according to the former executive, who participated in the contract negotiations between 2019 and 2020. There is a giant organization of travelers to accommodate not only the players but also their families, staff, executives and NBA staff. 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-level 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 offers some security, as does the State Department. “It’s very secretive,” explains the former director. It’s about eyes and ears and coordinating with citizens so that everything is fine. “The State Department covers its own expenses, and in some cases, the USOPC will supplement its efforts by hiring a local law enforcement agency.
In total, the cost of staying in the Olympic Village would be equivalent to about 10% of the expenses of basketball teams in Paris, estimates the former director of the USOPC. USA Basketball can do it. According to public information, the nonprofit generated about $78 million in profits in the last 4 fiscal years ending September 30. Roughly $38 million of that total comes from its licensing and marketing deal with the NBA, totaling $15. 5 million in 2021, the year of the last Summer Games.
“The smartest thing about basketball is that it has a lot of resources only between the national governance framework but, more importantly, between the NBA and the WNBA,” says the former executive.
And players will continue to have the opportunity to feel the surroundings of the Villa.
“We’re still out of it, but we have our time right before the opening ceremony,” Kevin Durant, who is competing in his fourth Olympics, recently told USA Today. “Since 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 approximately 300.