The NBL has said an 83-year-old man who poured beer on Sydney Kings American import Marcus Thornton will not attend any more games this season.

The man caused a social media frenzy after television coverage captured him leaning forward from a courtside corporate box to casually tip the contents of a can on the head of a sprawling and bemused Thornton.

He was ejected from Wollongong’s WIN Entertainment Centre and his action was strongly condemned as “dropkick behaviour” by Sydney coach Damian Cotter, after his team’s loss to the Illawarra Hawks.

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NBL general manager Jeremy Loeliger reviewed the incident with Hawks staff and venue management on Thursday, later describing it as “unfortunate”.

The man had been in the Figtree Private Hospital’s box and the hospital issued an apology to the Kings and Thornton for the action of their guest.

See the bizarre incident below:

“The 83-year-old father of a long-term, valued employee, has some cognitive impairment and does not recall the incident,” the hospital said in a statement.

“His family are very regretful of the incident and have indicated they will be making a formal apology on his behalf.”

Loeliger was happy to let the matter rest with an assurance the man would not return to games this season.

“It is a shame that a brilliant game was tarnished by the actions of one individual, however the players and officials showed their professionalism by moving on quickly,” he said.

“We do not condone behaviour of this type, and will continue to implement measures to ensure that this kind of interference is dealt with appropriately.”

Illawarra’s win boosted its record to 5-6 ahead of Saturday night’s second leg of its round eight double – a home game against Townsville.

The Kings remain last on the ladder with three wins from 12 games.