Jacob Tobey out as Spurs announcer after affair allegation

Jacob Tobey is out as the San Antonio Spurs' lead play-by-play announcer after Instagram posts accused him of cheating on his girlfriend with Loren Waters, sister of Spurs guard Lindy Waters III, sources told Front Office Sports. The story went viral this week, and reps for Tobey and the Spurs could not immediately be reached.

The Thursday exit ends a rapid rise for one of the NBA's most talked-about young voices. Tobey had called Spurs games since 2024 and was featured on Front Office Sports' list of rising young play-by-play broadcasters last year. For anyone tracking how fast a high-profile media career can collapse, the Jacob Tobey story is a stark case study in how personal scandal can erase professional momentum overnight.

Key Takeaways

• Jacob Tobey is no longer the Spurs' lead play-by-play announcer after affair allegations spread on his Instagram account.
• Posts accused Tobey of cheating on his girlfriend of six years with Loren Waters, sister of Spurs guard Lindy Waters III.
• Tobey's girlfriend later said she posted the messages on his account and that their relationship is over.
• Neither Tobey nor the Spurs offered immediate public comment when contacted by reporters.
• The open Spurs booth job is among the most desirable team announcer roles in sports media right now.

What happened to Jacob Tobey and the Spurs broadcast booth?

Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported Thursday that Tobey is out as the Spurs' lead television play-by-play voice. Sources told the outlet that the decision followed accusations on social media that he had cheated on his girlfriend with the sister of a player on the team.

The New York Post confirmed the reporting and added detail about how the story exploded online. Earlier this week, an Instagram Story appeared on Tobey's account naming Loren Waters and including a blunt confession-style message.

"This is my girlfriend of six years," the post read, according to the Post. "But I cheated on her with Loren Waters. So feel free to continue following me if you really think I'm a good guy because I'm not. :)" A follow-up story showed what appeared to be photo booth prints of Tobey and Waters kissing, with the caption "Me and the new girl."

Fans widely speculated that Tobey's girlfriend uploaded the posts using access to his account. Tobey's social profiles were later set to private. Front Office Sports reported that in a subsequent post on her own account, his girlfriend indicated she was responsible for the Instagram messages and that their relationship is now over.

Who is Jacob Tobey and why was his job so valuable?

Before the scandal, Tobey looked like a textbook breakout hire in sports broadcasting. Front Office Sports described him as a talented young announcer who joined the Spurs booth in 2024. He previously worked at 9NEWS in Denver and called games for outlets including Fox Sports and the Pac-12 Network.

The New York Post noted that Tobey also performed the national anthem before Spurs games. In June, he announced he had signed a multi-year extension to remain in the role. That kind of contract is the kind of stable, high-visibility income many aspiring broadcasters spend years chasing.

The timing makes the fallout especially costly. The Spurs reached the NBA Finals in the 2025-26 season and carry a young core built around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. Front Office Sports called the vacancy one of the most appealing team announcer jobs in recent memory. Losing that platform is not just a reputational hit; it removes Tobey from one of the league's brightest local stages.

Career reversals like this are a reminder that elite sports media roles trade on trust as much as talent. When a broadcaster is tied to an active player's family in a public scandal, teams rarely wait for the full story to settle. The booth is a business asset, and organizations move quickly to protect it.

Why does this story matter beyond San Antonio?

Play-by-play jobs for contending NBA teams sit near the top of the sports media food chain. They combine national exposure, long seasons, and recurring contract value in ways that freelance announcing work rarely matches. Tobey had climbed into that tier before age 30, which is unusually fast in a field where announcers often grind for decades.

The viral spread of the Instagram posts shows how quickly off-air behavior can become on-air news. Within days, a rising voice went from Finals-stage coverage to headline fodder across NBA social channels. For professionals building personal brands around reliability, that speed is the real lesson.

Readers who follow wealth and career strategy will recognize the pattern: a single high-earning role can look secure until reputational risk wipes out years of ladder-climbing. Tobey's path through Denver television, national outlets, and a Spurs extension is exactly the kind of stacked opportunity that is painful to lose.

What did the Spurs and Jacob Tobey say publicly?

As of Thursday, accountability was still one-sided in the press coverage. Front Office Sports reported that representatives for the Spurs and Tobey could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither the team nor Tobey issued an on-the-record statement in the initial wave of reporting.

That silence left the public narrative shaped almost entirely by screenshots and social posts. The girlfriend's later message claiming responsibility for the Instagram stories added context, but it did not answer every question about how the Spurs reached their decision or whether Tobey disputed any part of the account.

In scandal-driven personnel moves, the absence of comment often signals that an organization considers the matter closed. Until Tobey or the Spurs speak, outside observers are left with sourcing from Front Office Sports and follow-up coverage rather than official confirmation of terms or timing.

Who could replace Jacob Tobey in the Spurs booth?

Front Office Sports framed the opening as a rare prize in team broadcasting. San Antonio's recent Finals run and star power around Wembanyama make the job attractive to experienced and up-and-coming announcers alike. The New York Post similarly described a highly coveted vacancy ahead of the next season.

Reporting from The Spun indicated Tobey would not return for the 2026-27 season after the Thursday ouster. The Spurs are coming off an NBA Finals appearance and remain built around Wembanyama, Castle, and Harper, which only raises the profile of whoever lands the microphone next.

For Tobey, the immediate question is whether another network will hire him while the affair allegations remain unresolved in the public eye. Sports media has seen personalities survive personal controversies before, but an alleged relationship tied to a current player's sister creates a conflict-of-interest layer that teams seldom ignore.

Thursday's news closes one chapter for Jacob Tobey and opens a competitive race for one of the NBA's most visible local jobs. The story began with a late-night Instagram post and ended with a rising broadcaster out of the Spurs booth, a reminder that in sports media, the microphone is never far from the headlines.