The US Olympic team had a grand tour to Paris. The team returned home with the most medals (126) including 40 gold. Coco Gauff, who unfortunately couldn’t win a medal, recently shared her best experience at the Paris Olympics. Even though she stayed at the Olympic Village unlike LeBron James & Co, Gauff considered linking up with Team USA’s men’s basketball team as one of the best moments.

Apart from the sporting events, another thing that caught the world’s attention is the Olympic Village and the facilities available for the athletes. It’s a huge setup built to accommodate over 10,000 athletes worldwide with food, lodging, recreation, and gym facilities. While some found the facilities hard to stay, it brought out the best social content creators in the others.

Tennis Channel interviewed the stars, who represented Team USA, to talk about their experience of living in the Village. While others spoke about the cramped-up experience of living with 8 people in an apartment set up, Coco Gauff had something else to say. She added, “It was really cool. It felt like a big college campus. Meeting Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo. The list goes on, Joel Embiid. The whole team, they’re all like obviously legends of the game. So it was really cool just to be with them and obviously hold the flag with the greatest.”

The 20-year-old indeed had a commendable opportunity at a very young. She became the chosen one to be the US flag bearer at the opening ceremony alongside LeBron James, whom she called the “Greatest”. Nevertheless, one might wonder how Gauff met the basketball superstar if they never really stayed in the Village. Let’s find out more about the $15 million luxury.

What’s the $15 million privilege that LeBron James & Co. enjoyed?

Team USA basketball has had a special treatment since the origin of the Dream Team in 1992. It was the first time when the NBA players participated in the Olympics. The management facilitated a star hotel accommodation for the basketball team, unlike other athletes who stayed at the Olympic Village. And, the tradition carried on for every single Olympic event since then.

In the 2024 Paris Olympics, it wasn’t any different. A Forbes interview revealed that the management has booked an entire hotel with 800 rooms, accommodating the players and their families. Moreover, it isn’t the men’s basketball team but also included the women’s team and golf stars who represented the US side. Above all, Forbes estimated the total cost involved in accommodating the stars for the event and it comes up to whooping $15 million.

Justin Birnbaum, who estimated the price, added, “We estimate that the total cost there is about $15 million. It includes all these different things, like travel, chartering, lodging, transport. When you’re not inside the Olympic Village, you have to arrange your own logistics, whether it’s getting the practices and games, there’s a lot of associated costs.” 

Anyway, to answer how Coco Gauff met basketball players while they didn’t stay in the Village, it’s simple. The players visited the facility and witnessed the sporting events regularly and met the athletes.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.