Andrew Toney (born November 23, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers from 1980 to 1988. He was dubbed "The Boston Strangler" by Boston, Massachusetts sportswriters during the 76ers' and Celtics' rivalry in the early 1980s because of his ability to single-handedly dominate games against the Celtics, including Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals when he scored 34 points in the game. He also scored 30 points in Game 2, 39 points in Game 4 and averaged 26.4 points per game in that series.

Toney was drafted by the Sixers out of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) with the eighth pick of the 1980 NBA draft.

He was named to two All-Star teams, in 1982 and 1983, and averaged 15.9 points per game for his career.

Toney was an integral part of the 1982-83 76ers' "Fo' fo' fo'" championship team, considered by many to be one of the greatest teams ever, and will long be remembered as a fan favorite along with such players as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Bobby Jones and Maurice Cheeks. Tony's career was cut short by chronic foot injuries.

Pat Williams, VP of basketball operations for the Orlando Magic, shared an ancedote with Tony Rizzo while being interviewed on The Really Big Show on ESPN850 WKNR in Cleveland on February 11, 2010 while promoting his latest book about the late Chuck Daly. Williams said that when he was a GM back in the days of their great rivalry with the Lakers and Sixers (c. 1980-83) he asked Danny Ainge, the Celtics guard what player he worried about the most come playoff time. "Not Magic or Dr. J, it's Andrew Toney that keeps me awake at night!", said Ainge. Williams went on to say that were it not for injuries that Toney would have been a Hall of Famer. Former NBA All-Star and TNT analyst Charles Barkley states that Toney was the best player he ever played with.

Toney's son Channing played NCAA D-I basketball at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and is now playing professionally in Poland with Asseco Prokom Gdynia.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]