Lamar Odom -- AAU Basketball DENIES Receiving Any Charity Donations

Lamar Odom's charity, Cathy's Kids, never donated a single dollar to the AAU basketball program ... despite L.O.'s claims ... at least that's what the president of the Amateur Athletic Union tells TMZ.

We spoke to Henry Forrest ... who tells us, "Cathy’s Kids has never donated to us. They have never, ever contributed to us. On Sunday morning it was mentioned that Cathy’s Kids has contributed to AAU Basketball teams ... that is an incorrect statement."

Forrest is responding to the "Outside the Lines" report, in which ESPN showed documents seemingly proving $1.3 million of the $2.2 raised by the charity was donated to "AAU team sponsorship."

When asked about the specific programs Cathy's Kids helps to support, Odom told the reporter, "A lot through AAU basketball in my neighborhood where I come from in South Jamaica, Queens."

But Forrest tells TMZ it's simply not true -- though he does say it's possible Odom used the money to finance an independent local team that was allowed to participate in AAU events.

“It is possible that Cathy’s Kids sponsored [an independent] team that registered to play in an AAU event. But teams like this only register to play in our events, they are not affiliated with AAU."

Forrest explains, "AAU doesn’t have anything to do with local organizations that put together independent teams. We don’t manage those teams or deal with those local teams put together. They only register to play."