NBA Player Walker Kessler Freaks out After His Girlfriend Takes Home the Miss America Crown

In this house, we love a supportive partner. There are a ton of ways to make the person you love feel seen. When they aren't feeling great emotionally, you can ask what they need and what you can do to help. If they aren't doing too well in the body department, offer to carry some of the more physical burdens. Sometimes you can get ahead of a bad day by surprising someone with a little gift or a lovely meal. Perhaps one of the best things you can do for your significant other is hype them up.

Everybody loves a cheerleader, and it's an especially wonderful feeling when your other half is 100 percent behind you and your endeavors. Enter Walker Kessler, who plays for the Utah Jazz. As an NBA player, he knows that teamwork makes the dream work, which is why he got nothing but net while showing up for his girlfriend, Abbie Stockard, when she won a game of her own, sort of.

On Jan. 6, 2025, Walker sat in what appeared to be a restaurant with one hand tugging on his lower lip. The other was clutching his cell phone, which was streaming a very important event. With his mouth open, clearly anxious, Walker waited to hear the results of the 2025 Miss America contest.

A woman's voice is heard saying, "Your new Miss America is ... Alabama!" With that, Walker dropped his phone and stood up. He walked over to a window and took off his hat in shock. "Oh, she won!" exclaimed a man sitting next to Walker, who was almost as invested in the winner as he was. They hug as Walker's guy pal repeatedly says, "Let's go!"

Walker's girlfriend, Abbie Stockard of Alabama, took home the coveted crown. Her delighted boyfriend wasted no time in posting pictures of the two of them taken immediately after the win. "You should have seen the aftermath, too," said Walker to KSL.com. "I was freaking out. I couldn't even talk to the waiter. It was wild."

Normally, Walker would have to call Abbie to congratulate her, but the two were in the same city. The Utah Jazz had just played the Orlando Magic, and the pageant was being held less than a mile away at the Walt Disney Theater at Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts. "I definitely think it's a God thing," said Walker. "The fact that we play in Orlando one time the whole year, and it happens to be the night of her finals night, and she wins. I mean, you couldn't have drawn it out better."

The 22-year-old is a nursing student and cheerleader at Auburn University in Alabama who performed a contemporary dance during the talent portion of the competition, reported CNN. She also addressed the waning workforce of 25- to 54-year-olds following the COVID-19 pandemic. "I believe we need to encourage those (people) to join the workforce, adapt to new skills, and learn to grow in our current workforce and industries we have today," she said.

Apart from the crown, Abbie takes home a $50,000 tuition scholarship. She also has the love of a solid dude who said, "It's a great title and stuff, but more than that she's an incredible young woman, even before she won Miss America or anything. It's cool to see her get recognized for that, but she's an incredible person."