Well, since when does an American who says he hate gays be in trouble for speaking his mind. His punishment from those who do not agree could come in many forms. No one has a problem with gays painting straight people with a brush of hatred by association, just for being straight. I have always wondered where in this whole game was it considered a public crime for being honest? A person may not like his opinion, but has this guy committed any crimes against gay people? If he had not have been asked this question, would he have expressed it? For being honest, how is that criminal, or at the very least subject to ridicule?
Who, besides you, said it was criminal? Aside from that straw man argument, the issue was the "freedom of speech"...and what the First Amendment says is "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech". The NBA is not Congress. Therefore there is no violation of that part of the First Amendment.
Tim Hardaway made a statement derogatory to a certain group of people. The organization that he represented, and was to represent this weekend, felt that was out of place and decided to not use him in the promotional events for the weekend. Neither party's First Amendment rights were violated, because Congress wasn't involved.
As to the consequences of his speech, or what they should or shouldn't be, people are free to discuss. But to say that his freedom of speech has been taken away, as it is defined in the First Amendment to the Constitution, just because some disagree and an organization decided not to use him as their representative, is incorrect. Words have consequences.