RIP, Junior Bridgeman

[ChuckyTheGoat]

He was drafted by the Lakers but never played with them. He was part of the package deal that sent Bridgeman, Meyers and Winters east in exchange for Kareem. He was an explosive scorer and one of the top Sixth Men in the league. Bridgeman was an integral part of several Division championships in Milwaukee.

For all his NBA success, his post-playing career dwarfed his basketball achievements. Bridgeman became a TYCOON in business. He bought 100 Wendy's chain restaurants. He later bought Jet magazine. He was also part-owner of the Bucks. He reportedly built a business model that produced $30Million net income per year. The guy was a mogul! His Net Worth was estimated to be north of $600Million! He was on the short list of most financially successful ex-athletes.

Shaquille O'Neal gave a nice tribute on the NBA pre-game before tonite's game. Said that Bridgeman was very generous with his time. Helped Shaq carve out a vision for life after basketball.

Thanks for the memories, Junior. I'm gonna mark you down for 20 in tonite's game. Because that's what you always did.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YITFe_N_B4Y

This video says that his Net Worth recently creased $1.00BILL. He was confirmed as a billionaire b4 he passed. That made him one of the 3,000 richest guys on the planet.

RIP, pal. The glowing tributes are coming in.

[mjsuax13]

The guy dominated off the court. Amazing.

[DrunkHorseplayer]

Never made more than 350k in a year playing ball and ended up a billionaire, his IQ was probably higher than entire teams today.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Never made more than 350k in a year playing ball and ended up a billionaire, his IQ was probably higher than entire teams today.

Horse, everyone said he was the nicest guy ever. Humble, and he had plenty of reasons to not be.

Funny story from many years ago. Two guys in Milwaukee were ordering in a Wendy's. They were Bucks fans. He sees an EE working the fry-bin. Guy says to his buddy "I think that's Junior Bridgeman."

He says to the EE, "Hey, are you Junior Bridgeman?" Junior nods and says "Yeah." Guy thinks that it's an ex-NBA player who is down on his luck. "Oh, sorry." He didn't realize that Junior is worth THIS much.

[RITZ]

Junior Bridgeman Northwest Indiana "Da Region" basketball Legend! Highly successful self made billionaire with multiple business ventures.

From NWI Times' The East Chicago Indiana Washington Senators 1971 High School State Champions!
The team had Pete Trgovich, a 6-6 senior and the leading scorer, averaged 22.4 points a game. He was joined in the starting lineup by 6-5 senior Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman (17.3 ppg), 6-7 senior Tim Stoddard (12.9 ppg) and a pair of ultraquick guards in 6-foot senior Darnell Adell (13.7 ppg, 7.4 assists) and 5-11 senior Ruben Bailey (13.7 ppg, 5.1 assists).

The Senators were rarely tested, scoring more than 100 points in eight games. Coach John Molodet, who died in October at age 87, encouraged an uptempo style that played to the team's strengths. East Chicago Washington averaged more than 95 points during the regular season and 91.1 points for the season.

The Senators went wire-to-wire as the state's No. 1 team, capping a perfect 29-0 season with a 70-60 win over Elkhart in the state championship, the final high school finals played at Hinkle Fieldhouse. East Chicago Washington set a record by scoring 344 points in its final four tournament games.

[Bluehorseshoe]

I got his autograph in 1984. What a nice guy. RIP

[ChuckyTheGoat]

I got his autograph in 1984. What a nice guy. RIP

Very nice, Blue. That's what everyone says.

You wouldn't know he was a Billionaire unless you looked it up. Arguably THE most financially successful athlete ever post-career. He's on a very short list.