Since 1992, and the return of NBA stars to the Olympics, Team USA has not frequented the Olympic Village with the other athletes. They are not the only ones to snub the Olympic Village, and in the past, other sports stars preferred to eat and sleep at the hotel rather than in the rooms provided to them.
This year, Team USA opted for a first hotel in Lille, theHermitage Ghentsince the start of the competition is at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, but Forbes confirms that LeBron James and his teammates also have a second pied-à-terre in Paris. The Federation finally decided to rent all the rooms in a famous Parisian hotel, and every two days, the players go back and forth between Paris and Lille. A choice that would cost the Federation $15 million! For comparison, the Fencing Federation paid between $300,000 and $400,000 for its teams.
Training in Levallois
According to our colleagues, some of the team's staff will still remain in Lille throughout the first phase. On the other hand, players and coaches, but also their families and loved ones, are therefore in Paris, and 20 minutes mentions the Marriott Hotel as a base, very close to the Opera. More precisely, it is the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hoteland the hotel management had warned in advance that no rooms were available from July 25 to August 12. The hotel has 297, to be exact.
Moreover, initially Steve Kerr's players were supposed to train in Tourcoing, and finally, every day, they take possession of the Levallois hall. It is also in this hall that the NBA franchises train when the NBA Paris Game takes place.
