AAU Basketball is a huge organization that helps to develop young children into basketball players. Although some criticize the AAU system, you can't deny that it has achieved great success.
Many great players have played in the AAU Tour and have many impressive AAU teams. One of the best AAU basketball teams ever was the 1994 New Jersey Pattersons. The team's roster is filled with future NBA stars.
In 1994, the AAU Basketball Tour saw a team with incredible talent on the roster, but at the time, people didn’t realize how great some of these players would be. The Pattersons of New Jersey have four future NBA players on the team, and they are also starters. They also have two future Halls of Fame.
The players are Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Rip Hamilton and Tim Thomas. The team is also on the roster. Kevin Freeman is not drafted into the NBA, but he won the NCAA title with UConn in 1999, and he was a starter in 1999, and he has been a 11-year career overseas.
The team is so dominant that they not only defeated their opponents, but also destroyed them. Patterson easily went on to win the National AAU Championship, and they also achieved the last year.
Kobe plays the team's point guard, which definitely makes him play a different role compared to most of his NBA careers. However, this works well when Hamilton and Carter take turns sitting at the back position, which gives Kobe a lot of options to pass.
When asked about the AAU team in Patterson, New Jersey, Kobe praised his team, who thought the AAU team had never been better.
“We participated in the greatest AAU team of all time,” Kobe said. “We did. We played together. That was the greatest AAU team ever. I mean, we were beating people 60, 70 points…Vince was one year ahead of me.
“I remember the height of this guy who could raise the ground was incredible. He was the number one shooting guard in that class. I was just behind him.”
Kobe's opinion is not wrong. This team is of course full of talent. You might think that Kobe or Carter was the best player on the team, but that wasn't the case. Tim Thomas is the best player in the roster.
Thomas led the charges and showed everyone that he would be an NBA problem when his time came. Thomas is the number one reserve player when these future NBA players play together. So, no wonder he is the best player on the team.
But Thomas is the number one person on the AAU team in Patterson, New Jersey, is actually Kobe’s motivation and helps future Los Angeles Lakers star develop his famous Mamba mentality.
After the AAU team dominated the game in New Jersey, Cotter and Carter and Hamilton left Patterson to play for the Philadelphia AAU team the following year.
Kobe's “killing list”
According to Hamilton, Kobe made Thomas the best player in the country in his famous “killing list.” Kobe's Philadelphia team will eventually face Thomas' New Jersey team in the championship game, and Kobe is ready to face the challenge.
“'Hey man, RIP, tomorrow. They made Tim Thomas the number one player in the country,” Kobe told Hamilton. “I should be the number one player in the country. I'm going there to show the world.'Look at this. Wait, wait.'”
Not only did Kobe surpass Thomas in the championship game, he led his Philadelphia team to a victory, proving that he is the best player in the United States. It's a good early story about how Kobe ruled his opponent, but if you ask Thomas about this story, he'll give you a different answer.
“I'm a quarter late,” Thomas claimed. “Bryant already had 20 or something like that, 15 or 20 years old. They're up. So I'm walking around the gym, like Tom Shep ard, you know, no stretch, nothing. I just walked into the gym, busy. I think I ended up meeting about 28 or 30 years old, and Kobe ended up like 40 things, and ended up winning the game. They ended up winning the game.” Win the game. ”
At this point, Thomas shifted his focus to baseball, not basketball. But he showed up very late, still almost surpassing Kobe? This is controversial, but Thomas will continue to focus on basketball and was selected by the New Jersey Nets as the seventh pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.
Thomas will play for seven teams for 13 years in the NBA and is a solid role-player. Richard Hamilton continued to play in the NBA for 14 years and had a very good career. Hamilton played with Michael Jordan during his tenure with the Washington Wizards.
Hamilton won the NBA championship ship in 2004, becoming a member of the Detroit Pistons, defeating Kobe's Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. He is also a three-time All-Star.
Vince Carter has a great career that is enough to win his place in the Hall of Fame. Carter is arguably the greatest Grand Slam Dunk in NBA history and has performed well for 22 years.
Of course, Kobe will continue to be one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen. Winning five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, including three straight titles, with Shaquille O'Neal, Bryant dominated as few he did before and after him.
Kobe won 81 points in one game, and his Mamba mentality has inspired young and older players to this day.
Even if Kobe will lead his Philadelphia AAU team to win the championship with Thomas' New Jersey State, when Kobe, Carter, Hamilton and Thomas all played for the Patterson AAU team in 1994, none of the AAU could really or be able to compete with their talent in 1994.
That was indeed the greatest AAU team ever, probably for a long time.