RIO DE JANEIRO _ Apparently, life on a luxury ship isn't all it's cracked up to be, even when it's a ship dedicated to housing the U.S. men's and women's Olympic basketball teams during the Rio Games.
Because of distractions and security concerns generated by the high profile of the men's team, USA Basketball has been placing players outside the Olympic village since NBA stars began representing their homelands at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
This time, the U.S. men's and women's teams are sharing a 514-foot ship called the Silver Cloud, which is docked at Pier Maua and rigorously protected by walls of bulletproof glass and tight security. The ship reportedly was rented by computer networking titan Cisco, which sponsors Team USA and is an Olympic "supporter."
But four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks didn't seem to see the reason to be on anything but dry land. Asked Thursday to list the advantages of the team's situation, he frowned. "I don't know. I see disadvantages, I'll tell you that," he said. "The beds are not big. The rooms are small. There are some disadvantages of staying on the ship."
He added, "They put us there. We don't make that call. It's an Olympic sponsorship, so we're staying on a ship that's sponsored by an Olympic sponsor. It's no different than us staying it a hotel. It's not like we're cruising around. We're docked. We have the same amenities if we were staying in a hotel. I don't really see why."
The U.S. men, who outscored their opponents by an average of 43 points in five exhibition games, will begin play Saturday against China, an exhibition opponent defeated by 49 and 50 points.
The women, five-time defending gold medalists, will face Senegal on Sunday.
As bad as the shipboard accommodations might be, they probably exceeded those of Australian basketball player Andrew Bogut in the Olympic village. Using the hashtag #IOCLuxuryLodging, he tweeted a photo of himself with the caption, "Putting together a shower curtain so we can shower and not flood the place."
However, Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan had nothing but praise for Team USA's cruise-ship lodgings. In fact, Jordan was enthusiastic about everything connected with his first Olympic experience, saying he hoped to get to as many events as possible and meet athletes from other sports, including swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis superstar Serena Williams, and Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt.
"It's been great. The hospitality here has been amazing," Jordan said. "The people have been extremely nice to us. The boat's super cool."
Jordan, who has frequently expressed his delight over being a first-time Olympian, said he loves the Team USA gear he received, especially the jackets. "And the shorts are nice. I get to show off my legs," he said. "Anything I get, I'm looking at it like, 'Wow, Olympic national team.' That's crazy just to look at it and put it on and be like, 'I'm DeAndre and I'm representing our country along with 11 other great guys.'"
He said the Chinese team plays "extremely hard. They're physical," and singled out Houston Rockets draft pick Zhou Qi as someone who can give the U.S. trouble. "They'll definitely be a tough opponent. We can't take these guys lightly," he said. "We've got to come out and play USA basketball."
The meaning of that hit home for him when the team practiced Thursday.
"It's like, 'Wow, this is where it's going to happen. This is where we're going to play.' It's crazy," he said. "Thinking about watching the Dream Team play, watching these other teams, you have an opportunity to play, you figure, 'Wow, this is where other teams did it and where we could possibly do it.' It's mind-blowing."
