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Red Panda makes triumphant NBA halftime return during 76ers-Bulls
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- Red Panda makes triumphant NBA halftime return during 76ers-Bulls
The post Red Panda makes triumphant NBA halftime return during 76ers-Bulls appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Popular NBA performer and Chinese-American acrobat Red Panda was last seen by basketball fans during the halftime show of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final between the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx . She suffered a serious left-wrist fracture after a fall from her unicycle, an accident that required surgery following an extended hospital stay.
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Now, she is back performing in the NBA, making her 2025-26 debut at the halftime show of the game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Chicago Bulls. A video posted on X by ClutchPoints features Rong "Krystal" Niu performing her signature act of riding a seven-foot unicycle while flipping and stacking bowls on her head.
Met with enthusiastic cheers throughout, the video features an awed crowd with a familiar tune playing in the background. Niu made her debut back in 1993 and has at more than 60 games a year for over three decades. Following the accident, Red Panda spent roughly 11 hours in a Minneapolis hospital and later underwent wrist surgery.
Another video, posted by the Bulls' official handle, features Red Panda wearing a No. 45 Michael Jordan jersey. Prior to the injury, she had been seen at big games consistently, including halftime of Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
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Niu has also made an impact in reality television, previously reaching the semifinals of Britain's Got Talent (season 18) and the quarterfinals of America's Got Talent (season 8). She is a fourth-generation acrobat from Taiyuan, China, trained from childhood.
Niu was previously a touring member of the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe and emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager, becoming an official citizen in 1997.
"She is recovering well and is practicing. She is looking forward to performing this season," Niu's agent Pat Figley had previously said about her recovery, per Outkick.
Fans will undoubtedly be delighted to see that the recovery went as planned and Red Panda is back performing once again.
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