Ulysse “Junior” Bridgeman, a star from the 1975 Louisville final team and a 12-seasle veteran whose commercial companies after basketball made him a billionaire, died at 71 years old.
By The Louisville Courier-JournalBridgeman underwent a medical event during a fundraising at Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville on Tuesday. His death was confirmed to the Courier-Journal by Al J. Schneider Company, owner of the Galt house. The details of his death, including a cause, were not immediately clear.
The Milwaukee Bucks, with whom Bridgeman played for nine seasons of the NBA, published a statement Tuesday evening with condolences to the Bridgeman family.
We are shocked and saddened by the tragic death of the legend of Bucks and the junior owner Bridgeman. We send our deepest condolences to his family. pic.twitter.com/xakotcdef5
– Milwaukee Bucks (@bucks) March 11, 2025
“The retirement jersey of Junior n ° 2 is hung on the FISERV forum, serving as a constant memory of its exceptional game on the field and its impact on the success of the Bucks,” said the declaration of the Bucks.
“His hard work and his perseverance led him to become one of the best business leaders in the country and, last September, Junior’s professional life completed the loop when he returned to the Bucks family as a owner. His memory will always be an inspiration for the Bucks organization.”
Bridgeman played three seasons for Louisville from 1972 to 1975 as one of the great time of all time in the program. Wing 6 feet 5 inches, Bridgeman was appointed to the All-MVC team during each of these three seasons and was a double player of the MVC year.
Bridgeman led Louisville in the Final Four of 1975, where the cardinals lost extensively against the UCLA, which provided the 10th and last title of the NCAA of John Wooden. Bridgeman collected an average of 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and three assists during his three seasons in Louisville.
Bridgeman was choice n ° 8 of the 1975 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers then exchanged Bridgeman at the Bucks in the agreement to acquire Kareem-Abdul Jabbar. Bridgeman played his first nine seasons with the Bucks before a two -year passage with the Clippers of Los Angeles. He played a last season in Milwaukee before retiring from the NBA in 1987.
For his career, Bridgeman collected an average of 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. The Bucks withdrew his n ° 2. jersey. Bridgeman returned to the dollars As a owner at 10% of the deductible in 2024.
The NBA commissioner Adam Silver published a statement to the death of Bridgeman on Tuesday.
“I am devastated to learn the sudden passage of Bridgeman Junior,” said Silver’s declaration. “Junior was the last entrepreneur who relied on his careful NBA player career by becoming a very respected and prosperous business manager.
He served as mentor to generations of NBA players and athletes through sports that were impatient to learn from him what it takes to prosper in the business world. Junior has been a dedicated member of the NBA family for 50 years – more recently as a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, investor in the NBA Africa and as a player who established the standard to represent the League and our game with class and dignity. “”
After basketball, Bridgeman embarked on several prosperous companies that started with the purchase of Three Wendy fast food franchises. According to Courier-Journal, Bridgeman has become one of the largest restaurant operators in the country and has widened his business to the property of a Coca-Cola traffic jam.
In 2020, Bridgeman bought Jet and Ebony magazines with his daughter Eden Bridgeman Sklenar for 14 million dollars and helped revive bankruptcy publications as bankruptcy as bankruptcy A digital operation. Sklenar is the CEO of publications.
In February, Forbes estimated Bridgeman’s net value at $ 1.4 billion. Bridgeman is survived by his wife, Doris, and his three children, Eden, Justin and Ryan.
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