{
  "id": 7300962,
  "title": "London Lions and NordVPN owner signs up NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/london-lions-and-nordvpn-owner-signs-up-nba-legend-shaquille-oneal",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-14T10:37:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/london-lions-and-nordvpn-owner-signs-up-nba-legend-shaquille-oneal/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Cybersecurity firm NordVPN and British basketball champions London Lions have enlisted NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal as their ambassador. The towering 7ft 1in O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and member of the United States Dream Team, is promoting NordVPN with the tagline \"Go big on your online protection.\" NordVPN is owned by tech investor Tesonet, which recently acquired the London Lions.\n\nThe London Lions are poised to make history by facing an NBA team when they play the Portland Trail Blazers in a preseason game in Oregon next month. Currently, there are no plans for O’Neal to engage with the London Lions as part of his ambassador agreement with NordVPN. \"We’ve grown into a comprehensive online security suite and Shaq was the perfect fit to help spread the message,\" said NordVPN's chief marketing officer, Toma Sabaliauskiene. \"He brings a unique blend of strength, trust, and relatable humor to the table, supporting the notion that world-class cybersecurity doesn’t have to be intimidating.\"\n\nSince retiring from basketball in 2011, O’Neal has remained active in the sport through his award-winning work as an NBA analyst and a brief stint as a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings. He has also been a forward-thinking investor and entrepreneur, being an early backer of Google and a prominent owner of restaurant franchises like Five Guys and Krispy Kreme. In 2022, O’Neal paid $1.8 million to settle a lawsuit related to his promotion of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.\n\nO’Neal stated, \"I only work with people and brands I believe in, and NordVPN is serious about helping people stay protected online.\" \"Everybody is online every day, but many people still think cybersecurity is too complicated or that it doesn’t apply to them. NordVPN makes it easier to understand, and I can help make sure people pay attention,\" he said. \"We are a strong team.\"",
  "summary": "The owners of cybersecurity firm NordVPN and British basketball champions London Lions have signed up NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal as an ambassador. The 7ft 1in O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion and member of the USA Dream Team who won Olympic gold at the Atlanta 1996 Games, is promoting NordVPN under the slogan “Go big on [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}