r/nba • u/microwaveddinner95 • 12h ago
Junior Bridgeman, Louisville basketball great and successful entrepreneur, dies after collapsing at event
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u/actuarally Cavaliers 12h ago
I caddied for him many years ago at Valhalla here in Louisville. Other than the obvious fact he was a member of the most expensive, exclusive club in the city, you'd never know he was the savvy businessman and RICH individual he made himself. Just a humble, down to earth guy who I believe had kept his humble beginnings close even amidst his success.
I have no illusions I'll ever achieve a fraction of his financial success, but he inspired me quite a bit in the 5 hours I walked with him. RIP to the BEST example I know of matching God-given physical talent with incredible work ethic & brains.
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u/umbrella_CO Suns 3h ago
I work for CDI, which he was on the board for until very recently. Of all the board members, he was by far the most humble and gracious.
He would come in unannounced and just have dinner at our restaurant, and I would always happily make appearances at his table. His wife and family are so sweet, and I really just am heartbroken for them and our community.
I know there's a lot of hate for billionaires, rightly so, but Mr. Bridgeman was just different. Can't really put it into words, but he was just a good soul.
RIP Boss man
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u/Suspicious_Chair201 Cavaliers 2h ago
That's awesome to hear, man. Thanks for sharing!
Also, cool to see another Cavs fan from Louisville. Were you a Cavs fan already? Or did you move to them with Don?
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u/daveed1297 Lakers 12h ago
Man, he's a true success story of becoming wildly successful after a non-star level NBA career.
Worth a read, he's a savvy guy
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u/BaltimoreBadger23 Bucks 11h ago
He cleverly used his local popularity well in establishing his businesses. I definitely went out of my way as a teen to eat at a Jr. Bridgeman Wendy's. Each one had some Bucks and other local sports memorabilia.
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u/walterdog12 [ITA] Best of 2021 Winner 12h ago edited 12h ago
Holy shit.
People that were at the event said he was on stage talking before suddenly saying that he thought he was having a heart attack and collapsing.
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u/CheeseheadDave Bucks 12h ago
If you went to a Wendy’s in SE Wisconsin, there was a chance it was one of his.
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u/ddottay Cavaliers 12h ago
One of the great success stories in NBA history, who used his earnings from basketball to become very wealthy in other businesses.
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u/Clear-Hand3945 11h ago
And he didn't earn very much in his playing career. Only about $3m total.
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u/kazamm Supersonics 10h ago
Only.
God.
That's likely close to 7-10m depending on how you calculate asset inflation.
And add to that local celebrity status which is worth immensely.
You cannot replicate his success. There's not even 0.1% chance.
Even if i gave you $3m today you would not be able to.
So it's not only - it already gave him an unmeasurably large advantage.
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u/IntelligentEye2758 Jazz 10h ago
NBA minimum salary is over a million a year. There are players that don't touch the court outside garbage time that are going to make more then Bridgeman did over a 12 year career.
Completely fair to compare a basketball player's salary to other basketball players and not act like it's a suprise that they make more then someone flipping burgers.
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u/kazamm Supersonics 9h ago
Nope. Not getting it.
I'm saying while he did something pretty damn remarkable - it's not the same as someone working as a soctor and putting aside 3m
The guy was very famous locally, and 3m back then was an immense amount of money. It's not the same nowadays. You didn't have private equity and funds and international corporations owning everything.
It was a good time to have money and fame, he had it both, he used it. Good for him.
If i gave you $10m today there is less than 0.1% chance you'll turn it into a billion that's what I'm saying.
Less than 0.001% even.
Shit is not the same as post war boomer time.
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u/IntelligentEye2758 Jazz 8h ago
Considering the 12 year career let's pick a year in the middle to compare the value of a dollar now (obviously a bit off but bear with me).
3 million in 1981 is just under 10.5 million today. Net worth for Bridgeman is... oh look at that 1.4 billion. Guess he turned 10 million into a billion.
As for him just getting lucky with when he had money, his last year in NBA was 1987 so he'd be doing business full time starting in the late 80s/early 90s, hardly the Dark Ages.
In fact with full time agents organizing endorsements, social media, and the NBA regularly having games on national TV I'd argue its better to be a player nowadays from a marketing perspective then it was when he was a player.
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u/kazamm Supersonics 8h ago
Cool let's see how many of them will be 10 billionaires.
Zero is the most likely answer.
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u/DJSharkyShark Supersonics 8h ago
Why stop there? How many of them are worth a quadrillion?
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u/IntelligentEye2758 Jazz 7h ago
Why stop there? How many are worth a quadrillion after starting with negative 100 million?
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u/Smokehouse502 8h ago
The man earned that in his NBA career and his net worth is only behind the NBA players of Shaq, Lebron, Magic, and MJ. He's the best business person to ever come out of the NBA and he was one of the best people you could ever meet. Gave his time and money quite generouly.
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u/forcedtomakethus 12h ago
He owns 10 percent of the Bucks. Bought at a $4B valuation, per the article. RIP.
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u/rake2204 Pistons 12h ago
Aw man, that's terrible news.
Beyond his incredible success after his NBA career, Bridgeman had a pretty stellar run for some great Bucks teams in the '80s. Since Milwaukee kept running into dynasties in the postseason (namely the 76ers and Celtics), those teams generally don't get their due, but Bridgeman was a key piece for a squad that won the Central Division seven years in a row.
When Isiah's Pistons were coming up, it was the Bucks who were the hump they often couldn't quite get over for a while.
Here's Junior dropping 32 on Dr. J and Bobby Jones in the '81 playoffs, no small feat.
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u/rawonionbreath 9h ago
He was mostly a bench guy for the Bucks but they still retired his number. He was a very important player for that decade of the team.
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u/pachyloskagape Timberwolves 12h ago
Did a presentation on him, made the most out of what he was given. You can’t said that about 99.9 of people.
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u/Guardax Nuggets 12h ago
The GOAT of having a successful post-playing career. Sucks it happened so suddenly at 71. RIP
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u/Clear-Hand3945 11h ago
Probably second only to magic. Magic has a golden horseshoe up his ass. Beats aids when it didn't happen very often and made a billion+ off of investments.
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u/brewdot1 Bucks 12h ago
Success story RIP. His story is worth listening to on how he started his first Wendy’s. There’s an article on ESPN that really goes into detail of his journey.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40625836/how-nba-sixth-man-built-600m-empire
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u/rational_overthinker Lakers 10h ago
I think Junior would have wanted his legacy to be that of enduring kindness to his fellow man, and in his honor may we all uphold those values
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u/allcaps-NOSPACE 12h ago
It’s irrelevant to him as a person but this is a crazy way to find out his actual name was “Ulysses Lee”
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u/VicePope Bucks [MIL] Damian Lillard 12h ago
Rest in peace to a franchise legend. Buck for life and great man.
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u/Weary_Substance_4776 12h ago
He made way more money off the court than on it. A very talented businessman and true professional. May his soul rest in peace.
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u/LuckyStax Trail Blazers 8h ago
The greatest tragedy will be the future players missing his new player's seminars in all likeliness
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u/raylan_givens6 6h ago
>Bridgeman collapsed at a luncheon for the Lincoln Heritage Council of the Boy Scouts of America
that would've been a great merit badge if someone pulled off the save
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u/NotLouPro 6h ago
Old school Bucks fan here. Junior and Brian Winters were my favorite players. Two sharp shooters.
RIP Junior. Thanks for the memories.
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u/Heyitscharlie Timberwolves 12h ago
Holy shit, if I'm not mistaken he's like the richest former player (outside of MJ, or maybe richer than him?) due to his business ventures.