The Australia-based National Basketball League released a statement Thursday claiming LaMelo Ball and his manager, Jermaine Jackson, have not applied to transfer the Illawarra Hawks from current holder Simon Stratford.
However, it did acknowledge Ball and his management had been in talks to be involved with the club. The league added that it alone has final approval on the transferal of team licenses.
Jackson said earlier Thursday that he and Ball had purchased the Hawks, whom the 18-year-old played for during the 2019-20 season, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony.
"Melo loves the Illawarra fans," Jackson said. "He loves that community. They opened their arms to him. They made us feel like we are at home. When we started hearing about the issues they were going through, we talked about it and decided, 'Let's own the team.'
"He is going to be locked into his NBA career, but we are going to hire the right people to oversee everything. He wants to create the best basketball program possible for that community there."
Ball, a potential No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, made the move to the NBL in June 2019 after forgoing the traditional route through college. He averaged 17 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 6.8 assists but played just 12 games due to a foot injury. He was still named the league's Rookie of the Year.
He also had a brief stint in Lithuania before returning to the United States to play in the Junior Basketball Association, a league created by his father, LaVar Ball, in an attempt to provide high school recruits with another alternative to the NCAA.
Jackson, who played five NBA seasons between 1999 and 2006, hopes Ball's ownership of the team will convince other touted high schoolers to consider heading overseas.
"When high school kids hear LaMelo owns the team, they will want to come," Jackson said. "They'll know they will be taken care of. We're going to put the organization on steroids, building it into a program that guys want to play for.
"I'm in touch with several former NBA GMs that want to go there to help out and high-level coaches that won every championship you can imagine."
ESPN ranks Ball as the second-best player available in the 2020 class and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic projects him to be the No. 2 pick.
