Andrew Toney (born November 23, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player. Toney played for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1980 to 1988. A two-time NBA All-Star, he won an NBA championship with the 76ers in 1983. Contemporary basketball greats Larry Bird and Sidney Moncrief put Toney on par with Michael Jordan offensively. Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe called Toney, “‘the most forgotten great player in NBA history.’”
Early life
Toney was born on November 23, 1957, in Birmingham, Alabama, where his father Earnest James Toney, from whom Toney learned dedication, was a steelworker. His parents always preached academics over athletics to him.
Toney attended Birmingham’s Glenn High School. On the basketball team, he averaged 31 points per game as a junior and 37 points per game as a senior. He once scored 68 points in a regional tournament game. He was named Alabama's “Mr. Basketball” as a senior, and was named to All-America teams as a junior and a senior. He was also All-Southern, All-State, All-City and All-District as a junior and senior. The team was 80–14 with Toney. He also played baseball and participated in track. As a youth, he idolized future teammate Julius "Dr. J." Erving.
On the basketball team, Toney averaged 21 points per game as a freshman, leading the team in scoring as a freshman and sophomore. He averaged 26.1 points as a senior, and 23.6 over his college career. In 1977, he led the team to the Southland Conference title. As a senior, he led the team to a 21–9 record, going as far as the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals. He was First Team All-Southland Conference in 1978, 1979, and 1980. He set nine school records, and scored 46 points in a game three times, including a game against Auburn to win the Bayou Class Championship. Foreshadowing his reputation in the NBA, after winning a game during his junior year against University of Nevada-Reno, 73–71, by making two free throws with only seconds left, Toney said "'I like pressure situations. ... They build up my blood.'" He was the team's third guard, but joined the starting lineup after guard Lionel Hollins was injured in a fight with Wayne "Tree" Rollins. The game ended with the Celtics crowd shockingly chanting for the rival 76ers to "Beat L.A." The Los Angeles Lakers won the 1982 championship over the 76ers, but Toney averaged 26 points and 7.8 assists per game, with a .529 field goal percentage, .750 three-point field goal percentage, and .862 free throw percentage in that series. While his playoff career points per game average was 17.4 overall, against the Celtics it was 19.8.
Toney was named to two All-Star teams, in 1983 and 1984, and averaged 15.9 points per game for his career. He was so difficult to cover defensively when holding the ball on the wing, with the ability to shoot or drive, that the 76ers bench players would shout "torture chamber" at the opposing player attempting to defend Toney.
Toney was an integral part of the 1982–83 76ers championship team averaging 20 points a game, alongside teammates Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Bobby Jones and Maurice Cheeks, all Hall of Famers,
In 1985, he was subjected to the indignity of having two NBA employees camp outside his house all night, and then come to his door at 7:00 a.m. to insist he take a drug test, based on unsubstantiated rumors. He passed the test but believed the 76ers were behind it, which both the 76ers and NBA denied. The relationship between Toney and the 76ers continued to deteriorate in the ensuing years. though he and the owner at the time, Harold Katz, later improved their relationship.
Toney retired at age thirty because of the physical problems with his feet. praised Toney as one of two shooting guards of whom he was most afraid. The other was Michael Jordan. Hall of Fame guard Sidney Moncrief, who won the very first Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1983, and who had to defend Toney, said "Toney was un-guardable .... he could do everything. ... I studied him, and it’s nothing you could do that could stop him from scoring, beyond double-teaming him and getting the ball out of his hands...." He also found Toney very smart, with a counter for whatever the defender tried. Moncrief "always put [Toney] right there with Michael [Jordan]." After the 1983 championships, Hall of Fame Laker coach Pat Riley said “'Toney is probably the toughest clutch shooter in the league today .... He is just impervious to pressure.'”
In September 1983, the city of Lafayette, Louisiana held an Andrew Toney Day, and the University of Southwestern Louisiana established a scholarship in his name.
In 1992, Toney was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. In 2016, Toney was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. He also won the second-tier Finnish Division I championship with Bisons Loimaa.
Toney lives outside of Atlanta and worked as an elementary-school teacher, and he then took on positions as instructional coach for the Gwinnett County Schools' Community-Based Mentoring Program and with Project Reconnect.