Former Louisville Star, Local Entrepreneur Junior Bridgeman Passes Away

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman, a two-time MVC Player of the Year for the Louisville men's basketball program during the 1970's and a former first round NBA Draft pick who went on to become one of the wealthiest retired athletes in the world following his playing days thanks to his entrepreneurial career, passed away Tuesday. He was 71.

Bridgeman suffered a medical emergency while speaking at the Galt House for the 45th Annual Leadership Luncheon on Scouting, benefitting the Lincoln Heritage Council, Scouting America. According to WLKY, he was in the middle of a public interview when he "expressed that he thought he was having a heart attack," and was immediately taken away in an ambulance.

"Junior Bridgeman was an incredible family man, community leader, business executive and tremendous representative and supporter of the University of Louisville," Louisville AD Josh Heird said in a statement. "But more than that, he embodied the kindness and humanity that we should all seek in ourselves. Junior used his immense talents and successes in both business and sport to ensure that his life had a positive impact. He cared deeply about making the world a better place for all of us. His life is woven into the fabric of the University of Louisville's history and story, as a player, as a leader and as a generous supporter of Louisville Athletics and the University.

"We will be forever indebted to him for all that he did for our student-athletes, our campus, and most importantly, the Louisville community. Words cannot fully express our enormous sense of loss today. Our thoughts and prayers are with his entire family, friends, colleagues, and former teammates during this difficult time."

A native of East Chicago, Ind., Bridgeman played three seasons for Louisville under head coach Denny Crum from 1972-75, getting named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year during his last two seasons as a Cardinal. During the 1974-75 season as a junior, he was named a Second-Team All-American, and helped guided Louisville to their third Final Four in school history.

Bridgeman declared for the 1975 NBA Draft, and was drafted by Los Angeles Lakers with No. 8 overall pick in the draft. Three weeks after the draft, he was then traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the deal for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He then spent the first nine years of his career with the Bucks, followed by a two-year stint with the Los Angeles Clippers before spending the 1986-87 season - his final in the NBA - back in Milwaukee.

He spent the majority of his career as the sixth-man off the bench, appearing in 849 total games but making just 52 starts. Still, he averaged 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists over his NBA career. His No. 2 was later retired by the Bucks.

After his playing career concluded, Bridgeman built a fast food empire under Bridgeman Foods Inc., steadily purchasing more than 450 franchise locations of Wendy's and Chili's restaurants. He sold them all to become a distributor for Coca-Cola in 2016, bought the magazines Ebony and Jet in 2020, and purchased a 10 percent stake in the Bucks this past September.

Bridgeman's net worth has soared to over $600 million, according to ESPN. In 2016, Forbes named him as the fourth-wealthiest retired athlete in the world, behind only Michael Jordan, David Beckham and Arnold Palmer.

Bridgeman has also served as the president of the NBPA, on the Board of Directors for the PGA, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and Churchill Downs, while on the Board of Trustees for the University of Louisville and Simmons College of Kentucky. He is a member of the Hall of Fames for: Wisconsin Athletic, Missouri Valley Conference and Kentucky Entrepreneur.

(Photo of Junior Bridgeman: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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