Kevin Durant has made a fortune from basketball, but one of his more intriguing financial moves came well away from the court. Long before artificial intelligence became one of the biggest investment stories in the world. The Houston Rockets star was putting money into a young technology company years before it became a major player in the open-source AI world. Years later, that decision has put a surprisingly large figure next to what was originally a relatively modest bet.
Durant invested $250,000 in Hugging Face before its rise
The investment began when Hugging Face was still a relatively young technology company, long before artificial intelligence became such a dominant part of the technology industry. Durant and his longtime business partner Rich Kleiman backed the company through their investment platform, 35V, taking part in two of its early fundraising rounds.According to entrepreneur and sports-business writer Joe Pompliano, Durant invested $100,000 during Hugging Face’s seed round before committing another $150,000 in its Series A financing. Together, those investments amounted to $250,000.That was a small commitment compared with the scale of Durant’s basketball earnings, but it was made at a particularly early stage of Hugging Face’s development. The company would go on to become one of the most widely used platforms for sharing and working with open-source AI models, building a large community around the development and distribution of AI technology.Durant was not hiding his involvement. In 2017, he publicly signalled his backing of the company on social media while promoting a new Hugging Face release.“Excited for the new release of #HuggingFace durant.ly/huggingface – proud investor!” Durant wrote.Nearly a decade later, that early bet has taken on a very different significance following Nvidia’s agreement to acquire Hugging Face for approximately $12.9 billion.Pompliano estimates that Durant and Kleiman’s investment could now be worth more than $60 million, a figure that would turn the original $250,000 commitment into an extraordinary return.“He likely made more than $60 million in this investment alone,” Pompliano wrote, calling it “one of the best athlete investments ever.”The size of that potential return should nevertheless be treated carefully. Durant’s exact ownership stake in Hugging Face has not been made public, so the $60 million figure is an estimate rather than a confirmed payout. The final amount he could receive will depend on the stake he actually holds and the terms and structure of Nvidia’s acquisition.
Nvidia’s $12.9 billion Hugging Face deal changed the equation
Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for approximately $12.93 billion, with the deal officially announced on September 3, 2026.According to Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and Hugging Face chief executive Clement Delangue, the AI company’s team approached Nvidia during the summer as it looked to expand its computing resources.Hugging Face is expected to continue operating as an open platform for the global AI community following the acquisition.For Durant, the timing turns an early venture bet into a potentially extraordinary paper return. Pompliano’s estimate would represent roughly a 23,900% return on the original $250,000 investment.It would also put the potential windfall above Durant’s biggest single-season NBA salary.
The potential return is bigger than Durant’s annual NBA salary
Durant is entering his 19th NBA season and is scheduled to earn $43.9 million with the Houston Rockets during the 2026-27 season, according to Spotrac.His contract is a two-year, $90 million deal, with a $46.1 million player option for 2027-28.Even after 18 NBA seasons, Durant has never earned $60 million in salary in a single season. His highest salary to date was $53.3 million last season, according to Spotrac.Across his NBA career, Durant has accumulated $501.1 million in earnings, according to Bleacher Report.That makes the estimated Hugging Face return unusual even by the standards of one of the NBA’s highest-paid players: a reported investment of $250,000 could potentially produce more than he has ever earned from the NBA in one season.Durant has also spoken openly about the possibility of retirement, particularly after former teammate Russell Westbrook announced his own retirement.During an episode of Boardroom Talks, Durant said:“I’m on deck,” he said. “… It’s a young man’s game. Even though I still feel like I can play, I always hear, ‘you’re 38, you’re 39. You’re getting up there.’ I get that. But I put everything into the game, and I’m cool with whatever happens moving forward. I’m going to continue putting everything into the game until I can’t.”At 38, Durant’s investment activity has therefore become an increasingly significant part of his business career away from basketball.
Hugging Face is only one of Durant’s major investments
The potential Hugging Face windfall is not Durant and Kleiman’s only notable investment success.Through 35V and other investment vehicles, the pair have built a portfolio spanning technology, finance, consumer businesses, sports and other sectors.Among their investments are companies including Robinhood and Coinbase, both of which have since gone public.The portfolio also includes Acorns, Dapper Labs, Kalshi, Spindrift and Whoop, alongside stakes in the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer and Paris Saint-Germain.The Hugging Face investment nevertheless stands apart because of the size of the reported return relative to the original commitment.For now, the final number remains dependent on Durant’s undisclosed stake and the completion and structure of Nvidia’s acquisition. The $60 million-plus figure is Pompliano’s estimate, not a confirmed payment to Durant.
