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Earlier this week, the basketball world collectively held its breath after halftime show sensation Red Panda suffered a scary fall at a WNBA game. Thankfully, it sounds like it’s only a matter of time until she makes her grand return to her unicycle.
It goes without saying that people who attend a basketball game in person derive the majority of their entertainment from the action on the hardwood, but most of the teams that host those fans go out of their way to maximize the amount of enjoyment they’ll be treated to when everything is said and done.
There are plenty of ways to keep the crowd engaged during breaks in the action, whether we’re talking about a t-shirt toss, a shell game on the Jumbotron, or races featuring babies or corgis making a mad dash to the finish line.
There’s a bit more time to kill between the first and second half, and while there are plenty of routes you can go to fill that particular void, one novelty act has emerged as the indisputed G.O.A.T.: Red Panda.
Red Panda, a Chinese acrobat whose real name is Rong Niu, has spent decades captivating countless crowds while perched atop the seven-foot unicycle she expertly balances upon while stacking metal bowls on her feet before expertly flicking them into the ones sitting on top of her head.
Red Panda is a staple at NBA games, but she was doing her thing during the halftime of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final between the Fever and the Lynx on Tuesday when she took a scary spill on the court before being taken from the arena in an ambulance.
We eventually learned the 60-something icon had fractured her left wrist (the same one she’d previously broken in 2013) due to a mishap that purportedly stemmed from some damage her unicycle pedal suffered during its journey to Minnesota, and ESPN reports she spent around 11 hours in the hospital receiving treatment.
Based on what her agent told the outlet, she still has a fairly lengthy road to recovery, as she plans to consult with an orthopedic surgeon after returning home before undergoing a procedure to repair the damage.
However, he said he believes she’ll only need a few months to make a full recovery and is already planning to return to the court next season, adding, “She is very grateful. Red Panda thanks everyone for all the kind wishes and support. It means the world to her.”
All hail the halftime queen.