When you’re 7-foot-1, a four-time NBA champion and one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet, apparently even your cybersecurity needs to be big.
Shaquille O’Neal has added another partnership to his already impressive business résumé, signing on as an ambassador for cybersecurity company NordVPN.
And naturally, the campaign has a very Shaq-sized message: “Go big on your online protection.”
Really, who else were they going to call?
The partnership puts Shaq front and center in NordVPN’s effort to make cybersecurity feel less complicated and intimidating for everyday internet users. It’s actually a pretty natural fit for O’Neal, whose ability to take serious subjects and make them entertaining has helped turn him into one of the most successful athlete pitchmen ever.
NordVPN executives say Shaq brings exactly the combination they were looking for: strength, trust and humor.
Yep. Sounds like Shaq.
The company wants consumers to understand that online security isn’t something reserved for computer experts sitting in dark rooms surrounded by 14 monitors. With people shopping, banking, communicating and doing business online every day, cybersecurity has become something just about everyone needs to think about.
Shaq believes he can help get that message across.
The NBA legend said he prefers working with companies he believes in and likes NordVPN’s approach to making online protection easier for regular people to understand.
It’s another interesting addition to Shaq’s enormous post-basketball business portfolio.
Since retiring from the NBA in 2011, O’Neal has done a pretty impressive job of proving that his talents extend well beyond dunking basketballs and destroying backboards.
He became an award-winning television analyst, spent time as a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings and built a reputation as a savvy entrepreneur, investor and brand ambassador.
His business interests over the years have ranged from technology investments to restaurant franchises, including well-known names such as Five Guys and Krispy Kreme. He was also famously an early investor in Google.
Not bad for a guy who once made a living backing defenders underneath the basket until they reconsidered their career choices.
There’s also an interesting basketball connection behind Shaq’s newest partnership.
NordVPN is owned by Lithuanian technology investor Tesonet, which also owns British basketball powerhouse London Lions. The Lions are preparing for a historic moment of their own, becoming the first British basketball team to face an NBA opponent when they play the Portland Trail Blazers in a preseason game in Oregon.
For now, Shaq’s NordVPN deal reportedly doesn’t include any official involvement with the London Lions.
Still, you have to admit the pieces fit together rather nicely: technology, basketball, business and Shaquille O’Neal.
More than 15 years after playing his final NBA game, Shaq continues to find new ways to stay relevant far beyond basketball.
And when NordVPN needed someone to convince people to take their online protection seriously, they went with perhaps the most predictable strategy imaginable.
They went big.