Getty America has a new envoy to Cuba: Shaquille O'Neal The role does not require Senate confirmation.

The United States is staging a Shaq Attack on Cuba.

Shaquille O’Neal, the legendary basketball star, has been named a State Department sports envoy to the island nation. His role is part of U.S. efforts to increase cultural exchanges with Cuba in the wake of the two countries’ restoration of diplomatic ties nearly a year ago.


O’Neal, who is now retired, spent 19 seasons in the NBA, including a championship-winning stretch with the Los Angeles Lakers. O’Neal will be in Cuba from Saturday through Tuesday, where he’ll lead basketball clinics for youth, the State Department said Friday.

“O’Neal will draw on his personal basketball and business background to highlight the importance of social inclusion and respect for diversity,” the department said in a news release. “During his time in the country, O’Neal will visit historically significant cultural sites in Havana to encourage positive ties between the U.S. and Cuban people.”

The agency described O'Neal as the "first-ever U.S. Department of State basketball sports envoy to Cuba" in its announcement Friday. Plans for O'Neal's trip to Cuba were first mentioned by the White House in March.

O’Neal’s appointment as a sports envoy does not require Senate confirmation. President Barack Obama, who made a historic visit to Cuba in March, has yet to name an ambassador to the communist-led country because of likely opposition from some Republicans in the Senate.