Oct 8, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) reacts after a play during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Paige Bueckers' Texas Gesture Catches Kevin Durant's Attention

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Oct 12, 2025 4:34 PM ET

The offseason escapades of former UConn Huskies women's basketball star Paige Bueckers in the summer of 2024 caught a lot of attention on social media. It seemed that Bueckers was popping up at random to various events all around the world, such as the US Open in New York and fashion shows.

This sparked some criticism from fans, as they believed Bueckers wasn't putting in the work to improve before what would be her final college basketball season. Bueckers responded to this criticism by dropping an epic quote last October, saying, "Everybody saw the world tour; they didn't see the work tour.

"They see me 3-4 hours a day and they think they know my entire 24 hours. Which is cool," Bueckers continued. "It's fine. The work will always show. I'm a believer in that, I have confidence in that. And I can already see if I have a game that's not up to other people's standards, it's like, 'should have been in the gym all summer. Shouldn't have been doing this, shouldn't have been doing that.'"

Bueckers went on to shut any criticism down by leading UConn to NCAA championship in April 2025.

Bueckers didn't have much time to parade around the country after that national championship because she was selected by the Dallas Wings in the WNBA Draft a couple of weeks later and had to prepare for the 2025 season.

Now that Bueckers' rookie season is over (and she won the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year award), she can finally get back to some offseason exploits.

Her most recent one was showing up at the University of Texas Longhorns' home "Red River Rivalry" football game against the Oklahoma Sooners on October 12. Bueckers was interviewed by ESPN's Holly Rowe at one point in the game, standing right in the middle of Oklahoma and Texas fans. But Bueckers made her allegiance clear, as she flashed the iconic Hook 'em Horns hand gesture (which is Texas' way of showing school pride) at one point.

Paige Bueckers throwing the horns up in the crowd at OU Texas in an interview with Holly Rowe pic.twitter.com/aRtzQ1pomV
— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) October 11, 2025

This display caught the attention of NBA legend Kevin Durant, who played his college hoops at Texas. Durant posted a screenshot of Bueckers' going the hand signal on his Instagram story soon after it happened.

Kevin Durant posted Paige Bueckers on IG after Texas Football win pic.twitter.com/o9a50sIGxz
— ☆ (@Stunna999_) October 11, 2025

Now that Durant is playing for the Houston Rockets, perhaps he and Bueckers can connect somewhere in Texas and get some shots up at some point in the WNBA offseason. Then again, Durant's season is about to get underway, which might make it difficult to find time for the Wings star.

This article first appeared on Women's Fastbreak on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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