Tom Tolbert does Bill Walton better than Bill Walton.

Irreverent and informative, Tolbert is consistently more entertaining than Walton, his ABC/ESPN colleague.

Recently, ABC rewarded Tolbert, promoting him to the first team to combine with Walton and Brad Nessler on the NBA Finals.

It’s a risky move that could pay large dividends.

The risk is that Walton and Tolbert could end up competing for time, resulting in an annoying tug-of-war for the microphone.

The reward could be Tolbert challenging some of Walton’s bizarre opinions, making for entertaining byplay.

Walton can be a very interesting listen. But, at times, his comments seem undisciplined and outlandish as he manufactures proclamations that seem designed to be different.

Tolbert is more of a natural. It has been quite a run for him from obscurity with NBC last year to ABC’s lead team this season.

And now, the sweetest reward yet – a Matchup victory.