Kevin Durant Had Priceless Reaction to Unrivaled Player’s Failed Dunk Attempt

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Dunking a basketball is one of the most casually cool ways a professional hoops player can score during a game—assuming all goes well. If not, the player standing under the rim tends to look a bit silly after the fact.
Hive forward Monique Billings looked like she was going to add an awesome play to her highlight reel during Friday’s game against the Lunar Owls in their regular season finale for Unrivaled. But she came up a bit short—literally—and was left grasping at the net as she watched the ball bounce off the rim and into the outstretched hands of a waiting opponent.
Kevin Durant happened to be sitting courtside for a front-row view of that moment, and the Rockets’ star had the most priceless expression on his face after Billings missed her dunk:
Monique Billings almost DUNKS the ball and leaves Kevin Durant stunned. 😮💨
— haus hoops | wbb (@haushoops) February 27, 2026
Hive and Lunar Owls are showing out for their final game of the regular season. pic.twitter.com/FDAKbmiBOS
Looks like the 10-foot hoop got the better of Billings this time around.
Durant has long been an advocate for women’s sports, supporting and investing in several teams and brands including the NWSL’s Gotham FC and the female-founded media company, Just Women’s Sports. He was also part of a bidding group that tried to bring a WNBA expansion team to Austin.
Last year at the start of Unrivaled’s inaugural season in January 2025, Durant shared his public support for the league that has featured a multitude of stars from Angel Reese to Sabrina Ionescu to Napheesa Collier.
“I love the concept of Unrivaled,” Durant posted on his X account. “It's great [to] see our pros hoopin' on TV during the winter months.”
Still, it’s a welcome surprise to see Durant in the house cheering on Unrivaled’s players, even if those players’ dunk attempts didn’t exactly go as planned. Unrivaled’s regular season will wrap up Friday night with the first round of the playoffs set to take place on Saturday; both the Hive and Lunar Owls have already been eliminated from playoff contention.
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Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.
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