Andrew Toney: A lesson for Philadelphia 76ers to handle Markelle Fultz

Andrew Toney was a highly drafted starting guard for the Philadelphia 76ers who said he was hurt even though doctors found nothing wrong. Sound familiar? In this instance, the owner did not really believe him.

The sound could be heard throughout the Spectrum:

An-drewww!!

Philadelphia 76ers coach Billy Cunningham spent a lot of time back in the early 1980s trying to reign in his supremely confident young guard Andrew Toney.

The No. 8 pick in the 1980 NBA Draft, Toney was a 6-foot-3 shooting guard out of Southwest Louisiana (now known as Louisiana-Lafayette) and he could score.

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Long-range, drives (he had the quickest first step in the NBA not seen again until Allen Iverson arrived), mid-range jumpers, fast-break layups. If there was a way to put the ball in the basket, Toney could do it.

On a team with two of the greatest players in NBA history with Moses Malone and Julius Erving, when rookie Charles Barkley joined the Sixers in 1984, it was Toney who stood out to him.

"“Andrew Toney is the best player I ever played with,” asserts Charles Barkley in a 1991 Baltimore Sun article. “When I first got to Philadelphia, everyone kept asking me, ‘How’s Dr. J? What’s Moses like? How about Maurice Cheeks?’“I told them, ‘They’re all fine, but wait until you see Andrew.’ “"

Toney’s nickname was the ‘Boston Strangler’ as the Sixers arch-rivals bore the brunt of many offensive outbursts from him. The highlight was Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference finals, as Toney poured in 34 points and the Sixers stunned the Celtics at Boston Garden to advance to the NBA finals.

Toney helped the Sixers win the 1983 NBA championship and he seemed to be headed to an Hall of Fame career.

But then, near the end of the 1984-85 season, his feet began to hurt. The Sixers medical staff, of course, misdiagnosed it and said they could find no problems, and owner Harold Katz and other parts of management got in a verbal war with Toney. At one point he was put on injured reserve for ‘bad attitude’ and later said he was ordered to play or be suspended.

The problems were finally diagnosed and he had operations for stress fractures in both feet and later on bone spurs in his ankle. However, it was too little, too late and until the end, there was a vibe felt from the 76ers high-ups that he could still play like the old ‘Strangler’ if he really wanted to.

Toney’s career limped, literally, until the 1987-88 season when he played 29 games and averaged 7.3 points before hanging up the sneakers.

He averaged 17 points his first five years in the NBA, and remember this was playing with Dr. J and Moses, so he was usually the third option on offense, but just seven points the final three.

How good was Toney when he had two good feet to stand on? Here is current Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge‘s memory of facing him:

"“He was the toughest guy I ever guarded,” said Ainge back in 1991. “I still talk about him all the time. … I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming his name.”"

So much bad blood came about that Toney never appeared at a Sixers game from his retirement in 1988 to 2012, when the 1983 championship team was being honored.

Of course, the Sixers currently have a guard, drafted even higher than Toney, named Markelle Fultz who has claimed injuries that the medical staff was unable to certify as real. Finally, his agent pulled him from the team, had him go to a bunch of specialists and was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

He is undergoing physical therapy in Los Angeles and while the Sixers say he is out indefinitely, a timeline of late January has been floated unofficially by people in his circle.

Are there parallels by what happened to Toney and Fultz’s current state?

There are certainly a couple differences.

Toney was an established player, a two-time all-star with a championship ring, when he was waylaid by the foot problems. Fultz has yet to establish himself and lost his starting job to Jimmy Butler when he arrived via trade.

The Sixers knew what they were losing when Toney had to sit, Fultz’s career arc has yet to be seen as he is just 20 years old.

Toney had also just signed a massive (for that time) seven-year, $5 million contract. Katz wanted his money’s worth and more than few people noted how Toney suddenly could not play after getting paid. Fultz is still on his rookie deal, which is not too shabby, for the next few years. However, all of his problems certainly will not help him land a big contract when he finally become a free agent.

But there are plenty of similarities.

Both were high profile players who were met with skepticism when they said they were too injured to play. While, unlike with Toney, the Sixers management has officially been nothing but supportive of Fultz, there have been plenty of whispers behind the scenes to reporters that many of them believe it is entirely mental.

Again, there’s a number of people, like with Toney,  who feel Fultz could be the player he used to be if he really wanted to, or that this is merely an excuse for his play not living up to expected standards.

Sixers management is frustrated, Fultz is frustrated and the fans are very frustrated because they do not know who to believe.

Now, Toney never declared himself completely healthy once the pain occurred with his feet. Three years after he played his last game, Toney told the Baltimore Sun his feet were still hurting.

Fultz, according to his agent, might be cured and ready to play at some point and could be as soon as this January.

The one big lesson that could be drawn from Toney  is that, when a player says he is hurt, you should at least act like you believe him and back him as much as possible. No one knows what is happening with Fultz’s body except Fultz, just like the only one who felt the pain in his feet was Toney.

Toney and Fultz’s injuries were not the obvious kind. People can see casts when players break a bone in the foot or tear an ACL in the knee. Feeling pain in spots that are not easy to diagnose means sometimes you have to give the player the benefit of the doubt.

Certainly, the experience with Toney shows just lashing out and attacking the player brings about no good, except bitter feelings on both sides. A great competitor, no one should have doubted Toney’s desire to play; can we say the same for Fultz? Hopefully, he did after all spend a summer taking 150,000 shots to try and get his form right.

While they are probably not pleased with the way Fultz’s agent, Raymond Brothers, has handled the situation, GM Elton Brand and coach Brett Brown have publicly been supportive of Fultz.

Based on past history with Andrew Toney, that is probably the smart play.