Ron Artest talks about playing for the best AAU team during the '90s: "That's where we learned how to play unselfishly"

The 1996 Riverside Church NYC team was one of the best teams in AAU history. And with three future NBA All-Stars, it was without doubt the most dominant AAU team during the 90s.

Led by Queens natives Lamar Odom and Ron Artest , the team also had fellow New York products Elton Brand and Erick Barkley. They competed in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and California and won every tournament they entered.

Artest, now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest, recalled playing for that once-in-a-lifetime squad.

"That's where we learned to play unselfishly," recalled Sandiford-Artest. "We always knew Lamar was this most-skilled, Elton was the best, I was pretty damn good."

Odom was one of the best prep players in the country

Interestingly, Odom was the point guard on that team. But Lamar grew from 6-foot-1 to 6-foot-7 from 9th to 10th grade. So when he played on that team, he was a very tall point guard, reminiscent of Kobe Bryant from the 1994 Patterson New Jersey team, which many consider to be the best AAU team ever.

Led by Odom, they went an incredible 69-1 that summer. Their only loss was during the opening round of the Slam-N-Jam tournament in Long Beach, where they were beaten by a California team that featured Baron Davis, Tayshaun Prince, Jason Collins, Jarron Collins, and Jason Kapono. The Hawks avenged that loss in the championship game of that tournament, which they won by 20 points.

”The big thing I’ll always remember about that team is the chemistry that they had,” said Riverside coach Ernie Lorch. ”The camaraderie was unbelievable. We tell our teams today about those guys; about how willing they were to play together. They really believed in it’s not who scores as long as we score. We told them, ‘Feel good about your teammates' success and you’ll feel good about your own success.”

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They talked about playing together for the same college

According to Brand, who was the 6-foot-4 center on that team, the chemistry on that team was so strong that it translated off the court. Brand, Artest, Odom, and the gang became such good friends that they really entertained the thought of attending the same collegiate program.

”I remember we’d mention sometimes about all going to the same school but it was somewhat jokingly. It was mentioned, ‘Let’s go to a program that’s kind of down and stick together and just bring it back up.’ We never did that. But the other guys did that with St. John’s,” said Brand.

Artest, Barkley, Anthony Glover, Reggie Jessie, and Chudney Gray ended up playing for St. John's. Brand went to Duke while Odom played for Rhode Island. And the AAU trio managed to get an All-Star nod during their respective NBA careers.

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