Byron "Dean" Tolson was born in Kansas City, Kansas on November 25, 1951. He overcame a childhood of poverty, illiteracy, and five years in an orphanage to become an NBA basketball player. He was drafted from the University of Arkansas by former superstar player Bill Russell, by then the general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics, in 1974, where he played for three seasons. At the age of fifty-two he returned for three more years and graduated with a master's degree in Education and magna cum laude honors. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Scholars Honor Society in Chicago, Illinois. For the past thirty years he's been a professional motivational speaker on the subject of "Better Your Best and Bring Out the Best of Others," delivering more than three hundred speeches everywhere from top universities to private membership clubs and corporate organizations.
