PITTSBURGH — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban won't have a substantial financial stake in the Pittsburgh Penguins if the proposed ownership group he supports succeeds in buying the team.

Cuban said Thursday he joined a group headed by New York financier Andrew Murstein after several of his high school friends also aligned with Murstein.

Murstein is the president of Medallion Financial Corp., a company that finances New York City taxicab medallions and originates consumer loans. Also included are principals in Pittsburgh-based Walnut Capital, a real estate management and development company.

"I'm just a minority investor and then we'll go from there. It's not an active role, it's not the Mavericks," Cuban said at a Mavericks function in Dallas. "Honestly, some of my friends that I grew up with were active in this group, that's why I got involved with it. Guys from high school."

Cuban said the Murstein group approached him, not the other way around.