Red Panda, the popular New Orleans Pelicans halftime performer, suffered an injury on Tuesday night at the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship.
The performer, known for balancing stacks of bowls on her feet and head while standing on a unicycle, fell off the bike early in her halftime act at the championship matchup between the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx. Red Panda, whose name is Rong Niu, was helped off the court after the spill and limped to the tunnel, where she waited on her knees until a wheelchair arrived.
No medical update was provided on Tuesday night, according to ESPN's Michael Voepel, but a WNBA source said she was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The Fever won the Cup championship 74-59 despite being without star guard Caitlin Clark. In the team's postgame locker room celebration, Clark appeared on Fever guard Sydney Colson's Instagram live to send her best wishes to Red Panda.
"Red Panda, we love you," Clark said before turning to Colson to explain the intermission incident. "Red Panda got hurt at halftime. She rides on the bike and [juggles the bowls]."
"We love you, Red Panda!" Fever guard Lexie Hull said.
"Red Panda, if you're watching, we love you," Clark said.
The Pelicans' social media team then sent their well wishes on Wednesday morning.
"Wishing a speedy recovery to NBA legend Red Panda," the Pelicans posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Wishing a speedy recovery to @NBA legend Red Panda 🙏 https://t.co/7EwY65D1SD pic.twitter.com/h33RU38igO
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 2, 2025
In addition to the NBA and WNBA, Red Panda also performs at college basketball games, including LSU and Louisiana contests.