Athletes And Pandas

SI Staff | Jan 12, 2012

Athletes And Pandas

Shaquille O'Neal

STR/AFP/Getty Images

The giant panda may be an endangered species, but the bamboo-loving bears can't hide from athletes. SI.com proudly presents our favorite athlete and panda moments, starting with this gem from Shaq.

Yao Ming

China Daily/Reuters

Now that he's retired, Yao can pursue his real dream job: panda masseuse.

Carmelo Anthony

@carmeloanthony

As Carmelo Anthony shows, nothing gives you more street cred than a panda in your lap.

Kevin Durant

@KDTrey5

It's hard to tell who is more surprised in this picture.

Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington

Ian Walton/Getty Images

The happy couple were sad to hear the panda would not be coming home with them.

Carlos Moya

Jiang Hongjing/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com

Even though he lost to Carlos Moya in the men's singles final in Sichuan, this panda was more than happy to give some face time to the fans.

Swedish Women's Soccer Team

Color China Photo/AP

The Swedish women's soccer team heard it was good luck to touch a panda before their appearance in the 2007 Women's World Cup in Shanghai. Apparently they heard wrong, as the team went on to lose in group play.

Amelie Caze

Xinhua/ZUMApress.com

French pentathlete Amelie Caze celebrates her gold medal at the modern pentathlon world championships with a panda smooch.

U.S. Women's Soccer Team

Color China Photo/AP

Just another day at the office for this panda as he poses with the U.S. women's soccer team prior to the 2007 Women's World Cup.

Rafael Nadal

Ng Han Guan/AP

Even this stuffed panda couldn't avoid Rafael Nadal's signature bite after the finals of the men's China Open tennis tournament.

Netherlands Men's Soccer Team

Patrick Seeger/EPA

Outside of his natural habitat, this panda appears quite human.

Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval

Tony Medina/Icon SMI

Giants third baseman Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval wears his nickname proudly prior to a game in August 2011.

Maria Kirilenko

ADRIAN BRADSHAW/ EPA

Russian tennis star Maria Kirilenko was shocked to learn after the fact that this panda was not actually real.

Bubba Trammell

Lenny Ignelzi/AP

At the old Qualcomm Stadium this panda and lion always had a front-row seat. Unfortunately, neither made the move to the new PETCO Park in 2004. How ironic.

Shaquille O'Neal

CSPA/DPPI/Icon SMI

Since Shaq couldn't bring the real panda back to the States with him, he bought a panda hat.