Michael Jordan is remembered by the NBA as the most dominant player of the 1990s. By the time MJ got into his prime, he was consistently winning MVPs and championships; he was fearless in his era when it mattered. But because he shone so bright, some gems from that era often get forgotten and aren’t talked about today as much as they normally might have been.
Sometimes, players that aren’t exactly the best in the game overall can go off on certain nights or against specific teams. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf torched the 1996 Chicago Bulls for 32 points, for example, and who can forget when Linsanity took over the NBA for a little while? And there was one player in specific during the 1980s who was nicknamed the ‘Boston Strangler’ because of his performances against the Celtics. And he scared one Celtics legend even more than Michael Jordan did.
"I feared Andrew Toney even more than Michael Jordan." – Danny Ainge
"The best player I ever played with is Andrew Toney." – Charles Barkley
HBD to The Boston Strangler, one of the greatest players of the 80s. pic.twitter.com/c1a5ihLizz
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 23, 2020
“I feared Andrew Toney even more than Michael Jordan. He was not just a great scorer, but a guy that wanted to beat you up and score. He had an assassin mentality.”
Andrew Toney played for the Philadelphia 76ers for 8 seasons, winning a championship in 1983 and being named an All-Star twice during that time. Toney averaged nearly 18 points per game against the Boston Celtics in his career and scored less than 10 points in just 5 games out of 32. He had 12 20-point games against the team, including a 38-point explosion. So it’s no wonder that Danny Ainge was scared of playing him.
Danny Ainge Said Andrew Toney Was The Toughest Guy He Ever Guarded
Certain players know how to get even the best defenders. The names one least expects have given the most trouble to some of the best to ever do it. If Danny Ainge was asked who his toughest rival was, many would expect him to say one of the legends from the 80s and 90s, but he told the Baltimore Sun it was Toney in 1991.
“He was the toughest guy I ever guarded. I still talk about him all the time, and I was telling the guys in Portland about him last week. I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming his name.”
Getting nightmares about a player means that the player probably destroyed you to a degree that is even hard to explain. The NBA’s brightest stars often take most of the limelight when it comes to stories of their exploits, but there have been many talented hoopers that made their own mark on the league. Andrew Toney is undoubtedly one of those players.
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