Ulysses Lee “Junior” Bridgeman Jr., a basketball standout who led Louisville to a Final Four, played 12 seasons in the NBA and then launched an even more successful career as a businessman with stakes in publishing, restaurants and a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, died on March 11. He was 71.
Born in East Chicago, Indiana, to Ulysses Lee Bridgeman Sr., a steel mill worker, and Delores (Meaders) Bridgeman, a homemaker. He attended Washington High School and was a member of their 1971 basketball team, which went undefeated (29–0) and won the Indiana state high school basketball championship.
Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA before amassing a business empire that made him one of the wealthiest former athletes in the world. Following his career, Bridgeman owned hundreds of fast-food restaurants, eventually went on to own 500 Wendy’s and Chili’s restaurants across the country. became a Coca-Cola bottler and distributor, and acquired Ebony and Jet magazines. Despite never making more than $350,000 a season during his NBA career, Bridgeman had a net worth of over $1.4 billion, making him just one of just four professional athletes in the world to reach the status, according to a recent profile in Forbes magazine, behind Arnold Palmer, David Beckham and Michael Jordan.
Bridgeman served on several of Louisville’s board chairs and was also a co-owner of the Valhalla Golf Club. He served on the PGA of America Board of Directors from 2008 until 2012.
“Heartbroken over the sudden loss of my friend Junior Bridgeman who I worked with when he joined the PGA of America board. He appreciated the value of PGA Professionals and the game. He is one of the most successful businesspeople post their athletic career….he was a gentle giant of a man. He will be greatly missed,” said Joe Sterranka, Global Sports & Media Strategist on his LinkedIn post.
According to reports, Bridgeman’s cause was a cardiac event, a family spokesman said. Mr. Bridgeman had been talking to a reporter for a local television station during a fundraiser charity event at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, KY when the 71-year-old grabbed his chest and said he thought he was having a heart attack. Medical personnel were called to the scene and the room was cleared, the spokesman said, and he was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Bridgeman was a fixture in Louisville (KY) after his playing days, and Mayor Craig Greenberg announced his death, saying the city had “lost a kind, generous and groundbreaking legend.”
“He was an All-American at U of L, an NBA All-Star and a self-made billionaire,” Greenberg said in a statement. “Yet I will most remember Junior Bridgeman for his quiet, impactful assistance to others in need” as well as his love for his family and his “never-ending support for our community.”
