Team USA Basketball To Stay On Cruise Liner Rio

Much has been said about the accommodations, or lack thereof, for the athletes participating in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, From complaints by athletes to entire nations, Rio has gotten off to a rocky start before the games have even begun.

That plotline to an interesting twist Wednesday when it was revealed that Team USA Basketball will be staying on a luxury cruise liner instead of the Olympic Village.

Team USA Basketball Cruises To Rio In Style

TMZ first reported Team USA’s decision to stay on the 16,800 ton cruise ship dubbed, the Silver Cloud.

The decision by U.S. Basketball officials comes after several complaints about the accommodations in the Olympic Village, which include poor plumbing and beds that taller athletes cannot properly fit in.

Dallas Mavericks center Andrew Bogut, who is an Australian national and member of their Olympic team, is one of many athletes to launch a satirical assault on the Brazilian Olympic Organization Committee.

Bogut posted a series of tweets poking fun at the amenities of the Olympic Village, punctuated with the hashtag “IOCLuxuryLodging.”

“Putting together a shower curtain so we can shower and not flood the place,” one of Boguts posts read. “We believe a bed is not vital for sleep. Fine tuned athletes can sleep standing up,” he wrote in another.

The porous conditions made headlines when Australia’s Olympic Committee chose to put their entire roster of athletes in hotels for for a couple days as opposed to the multi-billion dollar Olympic Village, which was supposed to be “state of the art.”

The rooms were apparently having significant issues with water leaks and shoddy electricity.

“Electricity and water is not a good combination,” Kitty Chiller told reporters July 24, the day athletes were scheduled to move into the Village, according to AP.

Chiller said this was her fifth Olympics and she had never has such an experience.

“I have never experienced a village in this state — or lack of state — of readiness at this point in time,” she said.

A source within Team USA basketball told TMZ Sports that “hotel rooms were scarce in Rio, we ended up getting some rooms on the ship for our teams.”

All the more reason to rest in style, cue Smokey Robinson.

Article by Kevin Xavier