Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant explains why he's constantly firing back at hecklers

Kevin Durant never minds getting into a verbal back-and-forth with anybody. The Houston Rockets star used to spend a lot of time interacting with fans - and plenty of haters - on social media, before he slowed down after the alleged Twitter burner account incident , but it doesn't sound like he'll ever stop the talking while on the court.

In an episode of Boardroom Talks , which posted online Thursday, Durant, who co-owns the sports, media and entertainment brand Boardroom , sat for a 68-minute interview with Speedy Morman, who pointed out to the future Hall of Famer that he's an easy target for fans to rage-bait.

"It's not rage-baiting when you're going to leave this interaction feeling f- up," Durant told him. "I'm gonna hit you in the soul. It's just real personal s-. Like 'I'm way better than you at life. I've accomplished what you want to do in life. You're watching me. You pay my rent.' All types of stuff. I go that far, because you don't need to talk to me like that. You can cheer for me and react to a player, but you want to see this side of me, so why not?"

Durant made the case that fans actually enjoy getting cursed at by the player they're yelling at on the court.

"It just feels like, 'That's why I bought my tickets to really get a feel for who these dudes are. I know they're not just the perfect individuals, we know we've got some crazy motherf- in our league, so let me see. Let me rage bait one of these dudes real quick,'" Durant said. "Sometimes dudes might ignore them, but now people know if they say something to me, I'm going to say something back."

Durant even had a snappy comeback about how he feels after the interaction.

"I feel great that I can provide them with one of their most core memories of their life. That simple," he said.

One thing Durant says he doesn't do is ask for security to eject a fan for talking trash. When he played for the Phoenix Suns , Durant had a viral interaction with a Dallas Mavericks fan , who called him an expletive before a game and when Durant turned back to talk to the fan, she switched up and tried to shake his hand. Durant explained that moment and said security at the Mavericks' arena asked if he would like the woman ejected and he declined.

"I don't like getting people kicked out when they just heckle me and s-, because I know I'm going to get buckets that night, so I know I'm just going to use y'all as a reason," Durant said.

The interview covered a lot of ground - no, he wasn't actually trying to hide behind a bush when he was eating at Nobu in Malibu this summer, and yes, he does take a shower most days , estimating he bathes 350 days a year - but also talked about his future, since he turns 38 in September and will be playing his 20th season in the league and second with the Rockets. He said the retirement of his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook this summer hit home for him, but he sounded like he has more years left in him.

Notably, Durant, who averaged 26 points in his first season with the Rockets, has a player option to remain in Houston in 2027-28 for $46 million.

"It's a young man's game. Even though I feel like I can play, you are always hear, 'You're 38, you're 39. You're getting up there.' So, yeah, I get that, but I put everything into the game and I'm cool with whatever happens as I move forward," said Durant, who can pass Kobe Bryant for fourth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list this season. "I'm going to continue to put everything into the game until I can't no more."