$800 million Team USA forced to catch the train to the Olympics
Collectively they earn almost a billion dollars in combined salary each year, but America’s basketballers left their private jets behind for the Olympics.
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They may be worth almost a combined billion dollars in salary every year, but Team USA’s basketball team left the private jets behind on Thursday.
The favourites to claim gold at the Games made their way into Paris in the same style as normal commuters do ... aboard the EuroStar train.
It was unfamiliar territory for the 12-man squad who have grown accustom to jet-setting around America throughout the NBA season.
It was an Olympic themed gold-liveried train that they boarded to take them into the heart of the Games as a huge crowd of fans waited outside the gates upon arrival in Paris.
While some members of the team didn’t look impressed at the mode of transportation, others looked thrilled as the lined up for a team photo before hopping on board.
As eager fans shouted out to the players as they made the walk out of the station and onto their team bus, there was some light heckling in the direction of one star.
Joel Embiid, who holds French and American citizenship, was on the receiving end of some banter from France supporters who badgered him for picking Team USA.
“Give back your passport Joel,” one fan said while laughing.
“You should have played for France.” Another added: “You’re not American, bro.”
Embiid simply smiled back at the group as he made his way onto the bus and the team headed off to their first practice session.
Once the team began practise all eyes were on Kevin Durant, who missed all five of the USA’s warm-up games with a calf strain.
The Phoenix Suns star, a former NBA MVP and three-time Olympic gold medallist, suffered the injury in June, but coach Steve Kerr has said there was no thought of replacing Durant on the roster.
“The plan is for him to get in the scrimmage and see how he handles that,” Kerr told reporters in Lille after the team held an hour-long practice session.
“He looked good today and he did everything, he got a lot of shots up and told me he’s feeling pretty good.”
Durant, 35, missed the win over Canada earlier this month as well as the two exhibition games in Abu Dhabi. He was deemed not quite ready to return for the two most recent games in London either.
“It starts with the scrimmage tomorrow and we’ll see what the training staff says after that,” Kerr said of the plan for easing Durant back into action.
The Suns and Durant’s representatives will also be involved in any decision-making, Kerr insisted.
“This is not going to be like us going out and saying, ‘Hey, let’s just throw him out there’.”
Whether or not Durant will feature in Team USA’s tournament opener against Serbia remains unclear, but Kerr can call upon LeBron James who is back at the Olympics for the first time since 2012.
James is set for his fourth Games appearance in Paris, where will he serve as the United States flagbearer alongside tennis star Coco Gauff in Friday’s opening ceremony on the Seine.
“I just like coaching him rather than coaching against him, he’s incredible and it’s so fun to see him up close and get to know him a little bit and watch him with his teammates,” said Kerr.
“I mean there’s a reason he’s LeBron James. To see him at 39 doing everything he’s doing, dominating games, leading practices, setting an example for everybody, he’s incredible.”
- with AFP
Originally published as $800 million Team USA forced to catch the train to the Olympics
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