Junior Bridgeman, UofL basketball legend and billionaire businessman, dies at 71
Updated: 10:28 PM EDT Mar 11, 2025
THAT’S COMING UP NEXT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU JAY. IN THE MIDST OF OUR SHOCK AND SORROW, OUR COMMUNITY IS EXPRESSING ITS GRATITUDE. AFTER THE SUDDEN PASSING OF JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN TODAY. THE FORMER LOUISVILLE CARDINAL TURNED SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST SUFFERED A MEDICAL EMERGENCY WHILE SPEAKING AT A LUNCHEON FOR THE BOY SCOUTS LINCOLN HERITAGE COUNCIL AT THE GALT HOUSE. WLKY SPORTS DIRECTOR KENT TAYLOR WAS INTERVIEWING JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN AS PART OF THE EVENT WHEN HE PAUSED AND SAID HE THOUGHT HE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK AND COLLAPSED. PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY JUMPED IN TO HELP THE 71 YEAR OLD AND HE WAS TAKEN AWAY IN AN AMBULANCE, BUT HE DIED AT THE HOSPITAL. TONIGHT WE TAKE A LOOK AT JUNIOR’S LIFE AND LEGACY. JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN TRANSCENDED THE GAME OF BASKETBALL, TRANSITIONING HIS HARD WORK ON THE COURT, OFF THE COURT TO BECOME AN INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN. BRIDGEMAN WAS BELOVED IN LOUISVILLE. HE PLAYED FOR THE CARDS UNDER COACH DENNY CRUM IN THE 70S, LEADING THE CARDINALS TO THE FINAL FOUR APPEARANCE IN 1975. DURING HIS SENIOR SEASON. JUNIOR. BRIDGEMAN WAS DRAFTED TO THE NBA, WHERE HE PLAYED FOR 12 YEARS, THE MAJORITY WITH THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS. IN 2024, HE BOUGHT A 10% STAKE IN THE TEAM. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU PLAYED HERE AND YOU BECAME A PART OF THE BUCKS ORGANIZATION, EVEN WHEN YOU LEFT, YOU NEVER FELT LIKE YOU WERE NOT A PART OF THE ORGANIZATION. SO WHEN THIS OPPORTUNITY PRESENTED ITSELF, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE A NATURAL THING FOR ME. JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN ENTREPRENEURIAL ENDEAVORS STARTED YEARS BEFORE WHEN HE RETIRED FROM THE NBA. HE BUILT A FAST FOOD EMPIRE, STARTING WITH WENDY’S, BEFORE EVENTUALLY AMASSING HUNDREDS OF RESTAURANTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. HE ALSO BECAME A COCA-COLA BOTTLING DISTRIBUTOR AND BOUGHT EBONY AND JET MAGAZINES. BRIDGEMAN WAS ALSO PART OF A GROUP OF LOCAL BUSINESSMEN WHO BOUGHT VALHALLA IN 2022. HE SPOKE ABOUT HIS COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY IN AN INTERVIEW WITH WLKY AHEAD OF THE 2024 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP AT VALHALLA. WE WERE COMMITTED TO THE COMMUNITY AND VALHALLA WAS SOMETHING THAT WE FELT NOT ONLY WAS A BIG PART OF THE COMMUNITY, BUT SOMETHING THAT COULD BE AND SHOULD BE IN THE GOLF WORLD. ONE OF THE TOP COURSES IN AMERICA. BRIDGEMAN’S LEGACY WILL ALSO LIVE THROUGH HIS FAMILY. HIS WIFE, DORIS, WHO WAS HIS COLLEGE SWEETHEART, AND HIS CHILDREN, JUSTIN AND RYAN AND EDEN, WHO HAVE FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE FAMILY BUSINESS. THE BRIDGEMAN FAMILY HOSTS THE ANNUAL TRIFECTA GALA IN LOUISVILLE EACH YEAR ON THE EVE OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY. THE DERBY ALLOWS YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE. IT ALLOWS YOU TO SHOWCASE THE CITY AND AT THE SAME TIME, TO RAISE MONEY FOR WORTHY CAUSES. AND GIVING BACK WAS ALWAYS A PRIORITY. OFTENTIMES DONE OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT, TO KEEP THE FOCUS ON THOSE WHO NEEDED IT MOST. JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN HAD AN UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE, ITS FANS AND THE COMMUNITY WHO LOVED HIM. JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN NEVER FORGOT HIS ROOTS IN LOUISVILLE AND THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE WILL NEVER FORGET JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN. HE WAS ONE CLASSY INDIVIDUAL. NOW, AS YOU WOULD EXPECT, REACTION IS POURING IN TO JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN, PASSING U OF L ATHLETICS DIRECTOR JOSH HEARD SAID 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, AND A PLAYER AS A LEADER AND AS A GENEROUS SUPPORTER OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS AND THE UNIVERSITY. MAYOR GREENBERG SAID THAT HE WAS AN ALL-AMERICAN AT U OF L AND NBA ALL STAR, AND A SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE. YET I WILL MOST REMEMBER JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN FOR HIS QUIET, IMPACTFUL ASSISTANCE TO OTHERS IN NEED. HIS LOVE FOR DORIS AND HIS ENTIRE FAMILY, AND HIS NEVER ENDING SUPPORT FOR OUR COMMUNITY. JUNIOR MADE US ALL BETTER PEOPLE AND LOUISVILLE A BETTER CITY. JUNIOR BRIDGEMAN ALSO SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR CHURCHILL DOWNS. CEO BILL CURTIS JONES SAID THAT HIS KINDNESS AND HUMILITY MASKED A LIFE OF EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENT AND PROFOUND IMPACT THAT EXTENDS FAR BEYOND OUR ORGANIZATION. HE HAS INDELIBLY SHAPED THE FABRIC OF LOUISVILLE, INSPIRING COUNTLES
Junior Bridgeman, UofL basketball legend and billionaire businessman, dies at 71
Updated: 10:28 PM EDT Mar 11, 2025
Junior Bridgeman, a local billionaire businessman and former basketball star in both Louisville and the NBA, has died.He was 71.Bridgeman suffered a medical emergency Tuesday at The Galt House Tuesday during the 45th Annual Leadership Luncheon on Scouting, benefiting the Lincoln Heritage Council, Scouting America.WLKY’s Kent Taylor was interviewing him as part of the program in front of hundreds of attendees when Bridgeman expressed that he thought he was having a heart attack.People immediately jumped into action to help, and when emergency medical services arrived, he was taken away in an ambulance.The Al J. Schneider Company, which owns The Galt house, confirmed Bridgeman died.Bridgeman spent more than a decade in the NBA and is one of Louisville’s most prominent business leaders and philanthropists.He leaves behind his wife, Doris, and three children: Eden, Justin and Ryan.Bridgeman was born in East Chicago, Indiana. He went to college at UofL, where he played basketball from 1972-1975. His team made it to two Final Fours under legendary coach Denny Crum.Bridgeman then went on to play more than a decade in the NBA.He spent the majority of his professional basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks. He also played a short stint with the LA Clippers.During his NBA career, he started investing in Wendy’s restaurants and eventually built a fast-food empire with his company Bridgeman Foods Inc., owning more than 450 restaurants.He sold most of them in 2016.His other enterprises include Coca-Cola bottling operations and Ebony and Jet magazines. He’s also a co-owner of the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.Just last year, Bridgeman became a minority owner of his former team, the Bucks.After that, Forbes estimated he was worth more than a billion dollars, putting him on a very short and elite list of athletes.Bridgeman has also sat on numerous boards over the years, including UofL and Simmons College boards of trustees.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Junior Bridgeman, a local billionaire businessman and former basketball star in both Louisville and the NBA, has died.
He was 71.
Bridgeman suffered a medical emergency Tuesday at The Galt House Tuesday during the 45th Annual Leadership Luncheon on Scouting, benefiting the Lincoln Heritage Council, Scouting America.
WLKY’s Kent Taylor was interviewing him as part of the program in front of hundreds of attendees when Bridgeman expressed that he thought he was having a heart attack.
People immediately jumped into action to help, and when emergency medical services arrived, he was taken away in an ambulance.
The Al J. Schneider Company, which owns The Galt house, confirmed Bridgeman died.
Bridgeman spent more than a decade in the NBA and is one of Louisville’s most prominent business leaders and philanthropists.
He leaves behind his wife, Doris, and three children: Eden, Justin and Ryan.
Bridgeman was born in East Chicago, Indiana. He went to college at UofL, where he played basketball from 1972-1975. His team made it to two Final Fours under legendary coach Denny Crum.
Bridgeman then went on to play more than a decade in the NBA.
He spent the majority of his professional basketball career with the Milwaukee Bucks. He also played a short stint with the LA Clippers.
During his NBA career, he started investing in Wendy’s restaurants and eventually built a fast-food empire with his company Bridgeman Foods Inc., owning more than 450 restaurants.
He sold most of them in 2016.
His other enterprises include Coca-Cola bottling operations and Ebony and Jet magazines. He’s also a co-owner of the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
Just last year, Bridgeman became a minority owner of his former team, the Bucks.
After that, Forbes estimated he was worth more than a billion dollars, putting him on a very short and elite list of athletes.
Bridgeman has also sat on numerous boards over the years, including UofL and Simmons College boards of trustees.
