The iconic halftime performer Red Panda suffered a severe fracture in her left wrist after a fall from her 7-foot tall unicycle in the opening seconds of her routine on Tuesday night at Target Center.
Her agent Pat Figley told the Pioneer Press that Red Panda — the stage name for Chinese acrobat Ring Niu — spent 11 hours in a local hospital where she had a procedure on her left wrist. A couple of Lynx staff members stayed with her the entire time. She was discharged and arrived back home in San Francisco on Wednesday night.
The recommendation from doctors in the Twin Cities is that Red Panda have an additional procedure on the left wrist once she returns home.
Red Panda’s unmistakable routine involves her balancing bowls on her feet and flipping them onto her head while pedaling her unicycle. She is 55 years old.
In an email sent to the Pioneer Press, Figley noted how much Red Panda appreciates everybody who has reached out to her in the wake of her fall, which occurred at halftime of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup final between the Lynx and Indiana Fever.
“It means the world to her,” Figley said. “She much appreciates from her heart the support she is receiving.”
Red Panda performs during halftime at a WNBA basketball game between the Washington Mystics and the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Conn., Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis)