Contemporary basketball greats Larry Bird and Sidney Moncrief put Toney on par with Michael Jordan offensively.

On the basketball team, he averaged 21 points per game as a freshman, 26.1 as a senior, and 23.6 over his college career.

[4] On arriving in Philadelphia, future Hall of Famer Julius Erving took Toney under his wing.

Most famously, in Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals, he scored 34 points in the 76ers victory over Boston.

[8][9] During the 1982 regular season, on March 7, 1982, Toney scored 46 points against the Lakers and hall of fame defensive specialist Michael Cooper.

[17] 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,[18] all hall of famers,[11] but his career was cut short after seven seasons by chronic foot injuries (only five of which were healthy seasons[4]).

This led to a few years of bitterness between Toney and 76ers management,[7] though he and the owner at the time, Harold Katz, improved their relationship.

[3][9] Pat Williams, vice president of basketball operations for the Orlando Magic, shared an anecdote 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 general manager back in the days of their great rivalry with the Lakers and Sixers (c. 1980–1983), he asked Danny Ainge, the Celtics guard, what player he worried about the most come playoff time.

[4][11] Hall of fame Celtics opponent, and member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, Larry Bird,[20] praised Toney as one of two shooting guards of whom he was most afraid.

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.

"[23] After the 1983 championships, Hall of Fame Laker coach Pat Riley said “'Toney is probably the toughest clutch shooter in the league today ....