Team USA pushes the boat out for NBA stars, but it's not all plain sailing

Life on a luxury liner isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, apparently – even when that cruise ship is dedicated to housing the USA Olympic basketball players during the Rio Games.

Because of distractions and security concerns generated by the high profile nature of the men’s team, USA Basketball has been placing players outside the Olympic village since NBA stars first represented their homelands at the 1992 Barcelona Games.

WATCH: Highlights of delegations' parade and lighting of the Olympic cauldron

This time, the US men’s and women’s teams are sharing a 158-metre, 196-cabin cruise ship called the Silver Cloud, which is docked at Pier Maua and rigorously protected by walls of bulletproof glass and tight security.

The ship was rented by computer networking giant 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.