Kevin Durant Says Social Media Trolling 'Helps the Game' amid 1st Season with Rockets

Kevin Durant isn't above trolling NBA fans on social media, but he thinks there's some widespread benefit beyond the temporary enjoyment it provides.

"Like seriously, if you're questioning what I'm doing, then s--t, why not get it from the source if you're that interested?" he said of those online exchanges during The Pivot. "It's millions of millions of people that [aren't responded to], but when I responded to two or three people, it's like, 'How are you talking to everybody?' Now you're exaggerating. ... I might give them a quick 30 seconds then I'm moving on with my day. When you look at the big picture, I really believe these people I might be s--ting on sometimes, they enjoy these interactions. That might push them to go buy some NBA tickets, or buy the League Pass or a subscribe more to our game. I feel like if we were all a little more authentic with our responses, all of our games would grow. ... It helps the relationships between fans and players in my opinion."

It helps that Durant is one of the best players of his generation and is often funny in his responses, so it comes on less like sour grapes and more like a superstar amused by a random person questioning his basketball chops.

As for his first season with the Houston Rockets, it's business as usual for the 37-year-old, who is averaging 26.3 points, six rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.