When Kevin Durant stepped onto an NBA court, nobody would have pegged him as someone who’d one day score one of the biggest business wins in sports. But that’s exactly what happened. Reports recently surfaced that Durant and his longtime business partner Rich Kleiman turned an early bet on AI company Hugging Face into a return worth more than $60 million, all from an initial investment of just $250,000.

Bleacher Report called it “ one of the best athlete investments EVER.” The reaction online suggested plenty of fans agreed.

It all started back in 2018, when Durant and Kleiman made their move early, really early. They put in $100,000 during Hugging Face’s Seed round, then doubled down with another $150,000 when the Series A came around. All in, they were sitting on a $250,000 stake in a company that, at the time, most people had never even heard of.

At the time, this was far from an obvious bet. Hugging Face was still finding its footing, the AI wave hadn’t yet taken over the world the way it has today, and there was no guarantee the company would ever become a household name. Durant and Kleiman were essentially betting on a future that hadn’t been written yet.

That early bet eventually paid off in a massive way. Following Nvidia’s reported $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face, Kevin Durant’s stake reportedly generated more than $60 million from the investment alone.

The numbers quickly put the deal into perspective.

A $250,000 investment turning into more than $60 million is the kind of return that most investors, let alone professional athletes, will never see in their lifetime. And what makes it even more remarkable is how it happened. This wasn’t a blockbuster endorsement deal or another massive NBA contract. Durant and Kleiman simply got in early, took a calculated risk on something they believed in, and had the patience to let it play out.

For fans, that distinction made the story even more remarkable.

NBA Fans crown Kevin Durant’s investment a massive win

The reaction across social media quickly moved beyond basketball. Fans were not just talking about Kevin Durant’s jumper, championships or his place among the NBA’s greatest scorers. They were looking at the numbers and wondering how a relatively small investment had produced such an enormous return.

“EastMoneySniper,” one fan wrote. 

The nickname has followed Durant for years, but the reported $60 million payout gave it a completely different meaning. On the court, KD earned the nickname because of his effortless scoring. Off it, fans now see a player whose investment portfolio can apparently deliver just as efficiently.

“Nice to see a player turning buckets into billions,” another fan wrote. “Just shows how to play the long game.”

And that’s really the key to the whole story. There was no instant payoff here, no overnight success. Seed and Series A investments are risky by nature- plenty of early-stage companies never make it anywhere near a billion-dollar valuation. Durant and Kleiman’s bet only paid off the way it did because Hugging Face kept growing, kept building, and eventually became valuable enough to attract a major acquisition.

It’s a reminder that the biggest wins in investing rarely come from chasing quick returns. Sometimes, the smartest thing you can do is find something worth believing in early – and then get out of the way.

Of course, the NBA internet also found a way to connect the business deal to Kevin Durant’s famous online identity.

“Meanwhile, some pros fly private $50k,” one fan wrote. “Hopefully, young pros are paying attention to this news.”

The comparison struck at a familiar conversation surrounding professional athletes and money. NBA players can earn millions during their careers, but extravagant spending can make even massive contracts disappear quickly. Kevin Durant’s Hugging Face investment offered the opposite example: using a fraction of his wealth to make an early bet with long-term upside.

Another fan took the praise even further.

“I give more credit to KD as an investor more than as a ball player.”

That may be an extreme statement considering Durant’s resume, but it captured the shock surrounding the reported return. Kevin Durant is already one of the most accomplished players of his generation. Now, fans are viewing his business portfolio through a different lens.

Others simply looked at the reported return and reached an obvious conclusion: “He clearly doesn’t need NBA money anymore.”

That may be an exaggeration, but the broader point remains difficult to ignore. Kevin Durant reportedly turned a $250,000 early investment into more than $60 million, creating a business success that could stand alongside almost anything accomplished by an athlete investor.

For an NBA star known as much for his scoring as his curiosity beyond basketball, the Hugging Face investment added another chapter to the Kevin Durant story.

This time, the EasyMoneySniper did not need a basketball.