Jae Crowder is angry again. After expressing displeasure last week with Celtics fans who cheered potential free agent Gordon Hayward during the introduction of Utah’s starting lineup, he is now decidedly unhappy with those who decided there was a racial overtone to the matter.

The same Garden crowd that rolled out the green carpet for free agent-to-be Kevin Durant last year, picked up on speculative stories linking Hayward to his old Butler coach, Brad Stevens, and offered the Jazz forward a nice welcome. One, however, that was far milder than that given Durant. Interestingly, the fans did not laud Hayward when he stuck a pair of silky jumpers in the first 1:17, but, in Crowder’s mind, the damage had already been done.

Even those who disagree with Crowder should know and grant that he is a high-character individual who has worked tirelessly to improve both himself and the Celts, playing through injury and performing with a toughness that has endeared him to teammates and team followers. He’s earned, as well, the respect of opponents he’s regularly battered — people like Carmelo Anthony.

After weathering a Twitter storm created when he took to social media with his crowd complaint, Crowder then saw his issue twisted by some, including two ESPN voices, into a claim that Hayward’s ovation was based on the color of his skin.

On this count, Crowder called a foul.

“I never intended what I said to be about race or anything like that,” he told the Herald. “I never even looked at it like that.”

The discussion then turned to the fans’ recruitment of then-Thunder forward Durant, who isn’t, you know, Caucasian.

“Exactly,” said Crowder. “I didn’t like that either.

“But race? No. I’ve never had any problem with race in Boston, so I don’t even want to talk about that. I never said anything about race. That’s not my statement.”

Of playing for the Celtics, Crowder said, “It’s been everything I dreamed of.”

Teammate Isaiah Thomas has stated his belief that Crowder should have stayed away from Twitter following the win over the Jazz, but it bothers him, too, that the city in which he plays took a hit in some areas of the media with regard to the aforementioned issue.

“Yeah, it does,” said Thomas. “I haven’t experienced none of that since I’ve been here, so for people to think that way is not cool. I haven’t seen it. Maybe it’s happened at some other point in time, but since I’ve been here for two years, I haven’t seen anything close to that.

“No matter what color your skin, if you play hard and give it your all, people love you. It’s not about skin color.”

The continued presence of Kevin Garnett jerseys in the Garden would seem to speak to that point. As for the ovations, Thomas has another take.

“I mean, they cheered for Anthony Davis,” he said of the star’s appearance Saturday with the Pelicans. “They cheer for really good players. I think that’s what it comes down to. It doesn’t come down to what skin color you are. If there’s a good player in the building, the crowd is going to react to him.”

Walter McCarty has even more experience in Boston, and he is even stronger in his rebuttal to those who could characterize the city as racially insensitive.

“I’ve lived here for more than 12 years,” said McCarty, who has gone from Celtics player to assistant coach. “It’s totally not like that, and that bothers me, because I live here and I see it. It’s people who don’t really know the city saying that. They don’t know Boston.

“I’m sure there are still issues, but you could say that about every city. And if you really look at it, we’re one of the better cities when it comes to those issues now. I don’t see us having a lot of those issues that other cities have. It’s just some people having a misinterpretation of what Boston’s really like, and for someone to go ahead and say that, it’s definitely unfair.

“I think Boston’s a great place to live, a great place to be, a great sports town.”

As for the early cheering for Hayward, McCarty said, “Race had nothing to do with that, and I think it’s unfair to the organization and to all the hardcore basketball fans that are in this city and in this state. It was unfair to everybody.

“The thing is, Boston fans are smart people. They know what’s going on. Was it a race thing with Kevin Durant? They know people that possibly could be free agents. I’m sure they cheered for Al Horford last year, too. They’re like, ‘This is the place. We’d like to see you here. Just remember this ovation we gave you.’ I’m sure they’re thinking that way. But they weren’t cheering (for Hayward) during the game. It’s just something that got blown way out of proportion.”

Nowhere in America is free of intolerance. Light must be shed on incidents when people are prejudged and treated unfairly. In this case, too.