SYDNEY Kings star Marcus Thornton had a beer poured on his head during the NSW grudge match with the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday night at WIN Entertainment centre.

Midway through the third quarter with the Kings leading 62-61, Thornton made a drive to the basket before he fell over from contact inside the paint and went sliding into the advertising boards at the back of the court.

The 22-year-old former Boston Celtics draft pick was lying on the ground crunched into the signage complaining about a foul call when the spectator tipped his beer over the signage and onto Thornton’s head.

Details emerged on Thursday explaining the incident.

A statement released to Fox Sports claims the man at the centre of the incident is an 83-year-old man with a “cognitive impairment”.

Figtree Private Hospital — the company that hired the corporate box — said the man was also the father of the woman sitting next to him pictured on the live Fox Sports broadcast.

“Figtree Private Hospital has apologised to the Sydney Kings and the Illawarra Hawks for the actions of an elderly gentleman who was a guest in the hospital’s box last evening,” hospital CEO Paul McKenna said in the statement.

“The 83-year-old father of a long-term, valued employee, has some cognitive impairment and does not recall the incident. His family are very regretful of the incident and have indicated they will be making a formal apology on his behalf.”

The story made it all the way to the United States with a number of websites reporting how bizarre the entire incident was.

“During a game against the Illawarra Hawks on Wednesday, Thornton slid into a barrier separating fans from the action, and had a bit of beer doused on his head,” Fox Sports US reported.

“Obviously, this isn’t cool.”

Bleacher Report’s Kyle Newport said a “beer shower” classifies as unacceptable behaviour.

“Instead of just drinking the beer he paid for, one fan decided to share it with Thornton,” Newport wrote.

“And by “share,” I mean he poured some on the 22-year-old basketball player’s head while he was down on the court.”

Readers of US sports blog Deadspin also couldn’t help but comment on the story.

American readers of the blog couldn’t help but have some fun with the perfectly Australian story.

“He should not have didgeridone that,” Deadspin username devtron commented on the story.

Member TheHowlingFantod said: “Are we sure the guy wasn’t trying to baptise Thornton? I’m pretty sure Aussies do that with beer”.

The Kings import was shocked and didn’t know how to react before standing up and talking with teammates as umpires worked out what to do.

The man pictured here was seen leaving the arena with his daughter and a beer can in hand after being told by security to leave.

Thornton composed himself to continue to play down the stretch in a tight contest which the Hawks eventually held on to win 96-90.

Thornton finished with 18 points, but it was his class when being interviewed about the incident that stood out the most.

“I saw a little bit,” he told Fox Sports after the game.

“It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is and we move on.”

When asked if the spectator should be given a life ban, Thornton said he was happy to leave the decision to the NBL.

“I’m not sure. That’s not my call,” he said.

“I know (the NBL) will take the responsibility. That’s their call and that will be that.”

The spectator was immediately condemned by NBL fans on social media.

@illawarrahawks have awesome @NBL but the guy who poured his beer on @SydneyKings Marcus Thornton is not one of them pic.twitter.com/SbItlW4prk — Tim Morrissey (@timmorrissey) November 25, 2015

Welcome to the bush league Marcus Thornton. pic.twitter.com/hqn1WiNDby — andrewbprice (@andrewbprice) November 25, 2015

Illawarra fan poured beer on Marcus Thornton, disgusting they showed the replay multiple times and he's still sitting there. #NBL #Hardball — Dan Connelly (@DCBMORE) November 25, 2015

Man credit to Marcus Thornton in not reacting to getting a beer poured on him. Lifetime ban for that guy — Dave Fitzpatrick (@Dave_Fitz) November 25, 2015

@mickles7 he poured beer over Marcus Thornton when he was on the ground. Not sure if racist or not but regardless grub act. — Rhys Carmady (@RhysCarmady) November 25, 2015

It was a disappointing night for the Kings as star forward Josh Childress’ return to the court from injury began with a loss.

Fifth-placed Illawarra’s win was their second of the season over their big-city rivals and boosted their record to 5-6 ahead of Saturday night’s home meeting with the Townsville Crocodiles.

Kirk Penney spearheaded the Hawks’ victory with 24 points and was strongly supported by AJ Ogilvy (20) and Kevin Lisch (17).

Childress hadn’t played since breaking his hand in a round-three home loss to Adelaide and missed 12 of his 17 shot attempts. He was still productive, finishing with team highs of 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Thornton added 18 for the Kings and Tom Garlepp had 17.

Illawarra were playing without three of their top-10 regulars, forcing coach Rob Beveridge to elevate development players Tony Tolovae and Luke Jamieson to the bench.

The Hawks led 24-22 after the opening quarter, falling behind by nine midway through the second period before fighting back to lead 50-47 at halftime.

They were ahead 70-69 at three-quarter time and held the visitors at bay down the stretch.

The Kings remain at the foot of the NBL ladder with a 3-9 record and have a nine-day break before a round-nine road clash on Friday next week with the Cairns Taipans.

— with AAP