Beloved basketball halftime performer Red Panda, the stage name for acrobat Rong Niu, was injured at the beginning of her routine on Tuesday night during the final of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup.
At halftime between the Fever and the Lynx, Niu was ready to begin another awe-inspiring performance at Target Center, after using a ladder to help her mount her 7-foot-tall unicycle.
But just moments later, she fell off her unicycle and hit the ground hard, unable to catch herself on the way down.
Red Panda is a legendary halftime act. WNBA
Red Panda fell off the unicycle during Tuesday’s halftime act. WNBAMedical staff came to her aid, and Red Panda attempted to walk with them off the court but left in a wheelchair.
The Athletic reported she left the arena in an ambulance.
The game had to be delayed for a little bit as staffers took some time to repair a dent left after the fall.
Red Panda had fallen once before in 2018, during Game 3 of the NBA Finals. In that instance, Niu was unhurt.
Red Panda after falling off the unicycle. WNBA
Red Panda performs during the game between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder during Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals on June 16, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NBAE via Getty ImagesAccording to USA Today, she previously broke her arm in a different fall.
Niu has been a constant halftime act, performing her tricks since the 1990s.
“If you think at the beginning you can’t do it, if you put your hard work and your heart in there and you like it and you want to do something different from most people, keep working on it,” she told Sports Illustrated in 2019. “This is what my dad told me. People didn’t think it could work. And we tried. And kept on trying to be a better percentage. All is possible, I guess, if you keep on trying.”
She also made the semifinals of season 18 of “Britain’s Got Talent” and was once a performer on “America’s Got Talent.”
