On the second game of a back-to-back on a road trip, Kevin Durant was not about to take any nonsense. He’s busy creeping up the all-time scoring ladder, but that didn’t stop him from adding to his profanity-laden library. When the Houston Rockets arrived in Detroit on Friday night, the crowd at Little Caesars Arena brought the chill. But Slim Reaper was colder.

The trademark edge resurfaced during the second quarter. In an all-around physical game on both sides, Kevin Durant was at the free-throw line. In typical fan tradition, a spectator seated behind the basket started chirping. What they said is inaudible and unseen, but it was enough to trigger KD.

Durant didn’t go for grace and dignity. He was not going to be the bigger man. He chose violence.

He made his first free-throw attempt and clapped back at the fan, “You can s–k my d—. You a grown man. Grown man on my d— all night.” He then hit his next free throw and last we checked, the scorched fan lived to tell the tale. But that wasn’t the only time KD shut a courtside fan up.

Once again, it wasn’t clear what the spectator was saying, but one thing stands out. He was wearing a KD Brooklyn Nets jersey, so you can imagine the man would have had issues with how Durant’s tenure in Brooklyn ended. But KD was clearly pissed with what was said to him.

“You fat m—–f—-r, you can’t do s–t. Watch your f—–g mouth.” We can see in the clip that KD later went to have a civilised conversation with the heckler. Well, hecklers and Pistons’ defensive plays brought out the best in KD in Detroit.

While both teams were neck-and-neck both times, the free throws made a difference. The Rockets made 24 out of 30 attempts overall. Durant was 5-for-6 from that. In comparison, Detroit was 17-24 despite the physical play in this game. It indicates no amount of heckling could shake KD. But post-game is another matter, and maybe this could hurt him in other ways if the NBA takes action.

Kevin Durant loved Detroit’s rowdy reception

Kevin Durant might have as many trash-talking incidents as his all-time scores. He doesn’t hold back, so this wasn’t all that surprising. Just last month, he had a heated exchange with Denver’s Bruce Brown. But the NBA has limited tolerance for such kind of incidents.

The NBA’s history with “obscene language toward a spectator” suggests a fine in the range of $25,000 to $35,000 is imminent. KD has, in fact, paid around $25,000 a minimum of twice for responding to fans with explicit language. Maybe this will get him into the same five-figure trouble once more.

Unless some leniency that was shown in this game prevails. In the last quarter, Ron Holland and Jabari Smith Jr. got into a brawl that refs and teammates broke up. Yet no technicals and ejections were dished out.

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That brawl could be attributed to KD’s trash talk, too. He set the tone for his young team to follow. Right after barking at the spectator, Durant knocked down consecutive three-pointers to swing the momentum in Houston’s favor.

Every time the Detroit crowd got loud, Durant casually answered with some quiet offense. After the game, he even spoke about the crowd bringing a “playoff-like atmosphere” that spurred him on.

As for the physical plays and Detroit switching up defenders on him, KD dismissed any animosity. He said there was nothing but respect after the final buzzer. All that’s left is to see if the NBA thinks it was all in good fun, too. But even if he cuts a massive check for the trouble, Kevin Durant remains unapologetic.