Acrobat Red Panda takes scary tumble from elevated unicycle during WNBA halftime show
Red Panda, the popular halftime acrobat known for balancing bowls on her head while perched high on a unicycle, fell hard to the court Tuesday night while performing at the Commissioner's Cup final between the WNBA's Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis.
Riding on her custom-made unicycle at least 7 feet off the floor, Red Panda appeared to lose her balance early in her routine, then fell forward off her seat. She landed on her behind and immediately appeared to grab her left wrist.
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Video footage shows her being helped to her feet and taking numerous steps with assistance before sitting back down on the court. A wheelchair was eventually brought out to help her off the floor.
Read more: WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark finishes as the ninth-ranked guard in players' All-Star voting
As of Wednesday morning, no updates on her status had been given. The Lynx directed questions toward a representative for Red Panda, who did not immediately respond to an email from The Times.
Red Panda performs at halftime during a Clippers-Pelicans on Jan. 5, 2024, in New Orleans.
(Tyler Kaufman / Associated Press)
Born Rong Niu in Taiyuan, China, reportedly in the early 1970s, Red Panda is a fourth-generation acrobat who was first hired to perform during halftime at an NBA game by the Los Angeles Clippers in 1993. She has since been a staple at NBA games and numerous other athletic events, with her signature routine of using her feet to flip bowls onto her head while balancing high on her unicycle.
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Niu suffered a broken arm more than a decade ago after falling backwards off her unicycle while practicing.
At Game 5 between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder last month, Red Panda gave a quick list off the top of her head of all the NBA Finals at which she has performed. It was extensive.
"Oh my God," she said. "I did it for L.A. I did it for Chicago Bulls — that's many years ago for the [Michael] Jordan years. And then, I did San Antonio, I did Boston, Warriors, Detroit. ... And now I'm in OKC."
Without the services of injured superstar Caitlin Clark for the third straight game, Indiana defeated Minnesota 74-59 to win the Commissioner's Cup, the WNBA's in-season tournament, for the first time. As Fever guard Sydney Colsten live-streamed the players' locker room celebration, Clark leaned in front of the camera and wished the injured acrobat well.
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"Red Panda, we love you," said Clark, whose sentiments were echoed by several of her teammates.
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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