SALT LAKE CITY — A couple of days after their big run on “AGT: The Champions,” Utah trapeze artists Duo Transcend shared their love for Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
“Kobe was a huge inspiration for me, Tyce Nielsen of Duo Transcend told the Deseret News in an exclusive Deseret News interview last week. “I grew up being a basketball player, and there was nobody cooler than him. … We feel honored to be able to do the game.”
On March 16, Tyce Nielsen and his wife, Mary Ellen Wolfe-Nielsen, will perform the halftime show at the Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers game at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena.
The Nielsens, who were the runner-ups for this past season of “AGT: The Champions,” also paid tribute to Bryant in a Facebook post on the day of his tragic death.
The trapeze artists, who first auditioned for “AGT” so they could provide a more stable life for their young son Jaxx, especially admired Bryant’s dedication to his family.
“RIP. This breaks my heart; Tyce was literally just looking at his IG a few days ago and noticed that almost all his pictures are of him and his family, not of him being super famous, not pictures of fancy things. This man clearly cared so much for his family,” Mary Ellen Wolfe-Nielsen wrote. “Life is fragile and we can be gone at any time. Love and cherish the people close to you, they are more important than all the fame and money in the world.”
A public memorial for Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and the seven others who lost their lives in the helicopter crash will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 24. The memorial will begin at 10 a.m.