NEW YORK - National Basketball Association officials dimmed the hopes of a group bidding for ownership of the Memphis Grizzlies, saying that some aspects of their proposal would violate league rules.

In a statement Tuesday, NBA president for basketball operations Joel Litvin said the team did not receive sufficient information to conduct a review of a proposed purchases of the team by a group Brian Davis and Christian Laettner.

"Among other things, and despite numerous requests from the NBA, we have not been provided with important information about other potential investors, including the sources and amounts of funding that they would supply," Litvin said.

The former US college championship teammates for Duke University were saying they hoped by January for a league vote on their plan to buy 70 percent of the club for 252 million dollars, Davis spending up to 55 million to take control.

But it appears the Grizzlies, once based in Vancouver, could not be sold to the group under the plan due to league rules, Litvin said.

"Based on the limited information that we have received, it appears that certain elements of the transaction would not comply with NBA rules. As a result, and contrary to their public statements, the NBA is not taking any action at this point with respect to the proposed transaction."