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Tom Tolbert

Tom Tolbert

Tolbert, circa 1987
Personal information
Born	(1965-10-16) October 16, 1965 (age 58) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school	Artesia (Lakewood, California)
College	UC Irvine (1983–1985) Cerritos (1985–1986) Arizona (1986–1988)
NBA draft	1988: 2nd round, 34th overall pick
Selected by the Charlotte Hornets
Playing career	1988–1995
Position	Power forward
Number	23, 3, 40, 39
Career history
1988	Charlotte Hornets
1988–1989	Canarias
1989–1992	Golden State Warriors
1992–1993	Orlando Magic
1993–1994	Los Angeles Clippers
1994–1995	Charlotte Hornets
Career NBA statistics
Points	2,030 (6.5 ppg)
Rebounds	1,251 (4.0 rpg)
Assists	285 (0.9 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Byron Thomas Tolbert (born October 16, 1965) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional basketball player. He played a total of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).^[1] After retiring from basketball, Tolbert became a radio show co-host on KNBR in San Francisco and NBA commentator for the television networks NBC, ESPN, and ABC.

Early life[edit]

Tolbert graduated from Artesia High SchoolinLakewood, California in 1983.

College career[edit]

Following high school, he played college basketball at the University of California, Irvine (1983–1985), Cerritos College (1985–86), and the University of Arizona (1986–1988). While at Arizona, Tolbert played under coach Lute Olson, helping the team to an appearance in the 1988 Final Four. At Arizona, Tolbert was also a teammate of five-time NBA champion and future Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

Professional career[edit]

In 1988, he was a second-round draft pick (9th pick, 34th overall) of the Charlotte Hornets.^[1]

Tolbert spent seven seasons playing for a number of NBA teams, including Charlotte (1988–89, 94–95), the Golden State Warriors (1989–92), the Orlando Magic (1992–93), and the Los Angeles Clippers (1993–94). He also played briefly for Canarias in the Spanish league. He retired following the 1994-95 season after his oldest son was born.

Broadcasting career[edit]

Radio[edit]

In 1996, Tolbert was hired by KNBR, a San Francisco-based local sports radio station, to co-host a radio talk show titled The Razor and Mr. T with longtime Bay Area sports radio host Ralph Barbieri. The show attracted high ratings in the Bay Area with male listeners aged 25 to 54.^[2] The title of the show was changed to The Mr. T Show following the departure of Barbieri from KNBR in the summer of 2012. In 2014, with former San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto becoming co-host, the show became Mr. T & Ratto.^[3] Beginning in 2019, Tolbert hosted the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks Show.^[4][5] On February 25, 2022, Larry Kreuger and Rod Brooks were removed from the show.^[6]

From December 2012 to the end of the 2016 NBA season, Tolbert joined the Golden State Warriors Radio Network as color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Tim Roye.^[7] Tolbert currently hosts “Tolbert and Copes” with his co-host Adam Copeland

Television[edit]

In addition to his radio work in San Francisco, Tolbert was a color commentator for NBA telecasts on NBC. He was nominated for an Emmyin2002 for his work as a commentator on NBC. Tolbert then worked for ESPN from 2002 to 2007.^[8]In2003, Tolbert - along with Brad Nessler and Bill Walton - called the NBA Finals for ABC.^[3]

Personal life[edit]

Tolbert lives in Alameda, California with his wife and three children.^[3] In 2017, Tolbert suffered an aortic aneurysm and underwent emergency heart surgery. He returned to his radio hosting duties after a week-long recovery.^[9]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  and Basketball-Reference.com