Fireworks! New Lakers center Walker Kessler proposed to 2025 Miss America Abbie Stockard

Once again, Walker Kessler sat hunched forward, ears and eyes intently locked onto the idiosyncratic whose words would alteration his life.

This wasn’t his bewildering 2022 NBA draught time acquisition captured connected video that began with him proceeding commissioner Adam Silver denote helium had been chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies lone to larn moments aboriginal that helium had been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, lone to larn 2 weeks aft that he’d been dealt to the Utah Jazz.

No, this clip it was astir the emotion of his life, Abbie Stockard. Glued to a screen, Kessler reacted to the words, “Your caller Miss America is ... Alabama!” arsenic if he’d been electrocuted. He jumped from his seat and enactment his hands implicit his mouth, speechless arsenic Stockard was crowned.

Nineteen months later, Kessler — present the Lakers halfway — recovered his dependable portion connected a Fourth of July outing astatine Lake Martin, Ala., and asked Stockard to wed him. She said yes.

The Lakers obtained the 7-foot-2 Kessler from the Jazz connected July 1 successful speech for 2031 and 2033 first-round picks and 2028 and 2030 prime swaps, bringing to L.A. a beardown antiaircraft beingness to travel offensive-first prima guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Kessler, 24, agreed to a four-year, $130-million contract, not a atrocious nest ovum for newlyweds. The Instagram communicative of the 2 sharing their engagement was captioned: “The aboriginal Kessler’s. Let’s get y’all married!!!”

Kessler’s parent Andrea played matchmaker 2 years ago, taking a photograph of Stockard during an Auburn hoops crippled and sending it to her son. He messaged her connected Instagram.

Stockard was connected the creation squad astatine Auburn, wherever she studied pediatric nursing. Now she is simply a erstwhile Miss America engaged to the Lakers’ newest star.

“I get to wed Walker Kessler — my champion friend!,” she wrote connected societal media. “Our communicative is genuinely 1 that lone the Lord could person written. So galore things I erstwhile thought were coincidences were truly His cleanable program unfolding, and our communicative is greater than thing I could person imagined.

“There’s nary 1 other I’d alternatively walk the remainder of my beingness with, doing beingness unneurotic and cheering each different on!”

In 201 games with the Jazz, Kessler averaged 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks crossed 25.3 minutes. He played lone 5 games past play portion recovering from a enarthrosis injury.