Junior Bridgeman: From basketball’s Bucks to making big bucks
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BVM) — Ulysses Bridgeman, who is better known by his nickname, Junior, was originally known in the Louisville community for the performances he put on in the mid-1970s as a member of the University of Louisville men’s basketball team. The East Chicago, Ind. native helped lead his East Chicago Washington High School team to an undefeated season and a state championship in 1971, which aided the guard in finding his way to Louisville.
At Louisville, Bridgeman brought the same level of success from high school with him. During his junior and senior seasons, Bridgeman established himself as one of the best players in the country as he was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year both seasons while helping lead the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament. It was during his senior season that Bridgeman led Louisville to a Final Four appearance where the team would fall to eventual champion UCLA, 75-74, in the national semifinals. Over his career with the Cardinals, Bridgeman averaged 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 87 games.
His performances in college caught the eyes of NBA scouts and Bridgeman was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the eighth overall pick in the 1975 NBA Draft. A week after his selection, Bridgeman was a key piece to one of the most impactful trades in NBA history when he was traded amongst a group of Lakers players in the deal that would bring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Milwaukee to Los Angeles. The deal would be one that would not only change the story of the NBA, but would set Bridgeman down a long and productive path in Milwaukee.
Although he would never stand out as a superstar with the Bucks, mostly being used as the team’s sixth man, Bridgeman was able to carve out a strong niche with the team. Over his 12-year career, Bridgeman played with the Bucks for 10 seasons, leaving for two seasons from 1984-1986 to play for the Los Angeles Clippers before returning to Milwaukee for one last season before retiring in 1987. He finished his career with 11,517 points, 2,995 rebounds and 2,066 assists for an average of 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
Bridgeman played in 711 games for the Bucks in total, which is still the team record for most games by a single player. For his accomplishments with the team, Bridgeman’s No. 2 was retired by the organization.
Although Bridgeman had a long and successful career with the Bucks on the court, it may have been some lessons he learned off the court during his time in Milwaukee that helped him most with his post-NBA life.
Bridgeman was the longtime president of the National Basketball Players Association and during collective bargaining meetings with owners, Bridgeman learned from these business moguls the ins and outs that drive their desires for financial success. During a breakfast with then-Bucks owner Jim Fitzgerald, Bridgeman admitted to the owner his interest to one day enter the business world following his basketball career. Although Bridgeman wouldn’t know it at the time, the decision would change his life.
In April 1988, Bridgeman invested some of his savings into five Milwaukee-based Wendy’s franchises. Although his early returns would not be the most fruitful, with his chains averaging the same or less than the typical Wendy’s restaurant, Bridgeman ended up putting even more time and effort into his restaurants. Before long, Bridgeman’s locations began to gain more and more money on an annual basis, which allowed Bridgeman to invest even more into other Wendy’s restaurants and other businesses such as Chili’s. At his peak in the restaurant business, Bridgeman owned 240 Wendy’s restaurants, 124 Chili’s, 21 Fazoli’s and five Mark’s Feed Stores. Now, Bridgeman’s five original locations average more than $1.5 million annually, a huge increase from his original earnings in 1988.
Bridgeman was never considered a financial superstar during his time in the NBA, with his most valuable contract topping out at just $350,000, a number that looks minuscule compared to today’s multimillion-dollar deals. However, with his business acumen, Bridgeman has been able to become one of the richest NBA players ever in terms of net worth. Bridgeman’s net worth is approximately $600 million, which makes him near the values of some of the most popular players of all-time including Lebron James, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Michael Jordan.
Bridgeman is not done either. As of today, he’s the president and chief executive officer of Bridgeman Foods Inc., headquartered in Louisville, and in 2017 he became president and CEO of Heartland Coca-Cola, which became the third new independent bottler to join the company at the time and covers Kansas, Missouri and parts of Illinois and Nebraska.
Bridgeman was excited for the opportunity to join the team and be a part of the bigger picture.
“I am the least important person here,” Bridgeman said in a Coca-Cola press release. “Everybody that makes everything happen day-to-day, all the way up to the customers, that’s who is really important. I am just here to support and figure out how to make what they do better, easier and fun.”
During his tenure with Coca-Cola in 2018, Bridgeman and Canadian businessman Larry Tanenbaum signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to acquire the company’s Canadian bottling and distribution business, Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada. Bridgeman also made a run to acquire Sports Illustrated when the company was up for sale by Meredith Corporation in 2019 before it was eventually bought by WarnerMedia.
Today, Bridgeman’s restaurant business Manna Inc. owns numerous restaurants including 139 Wendy’s, 83 Fazoli’s, 27 Golden Corral and seven Blaze Pizza and seven Mark’s Feed Store restaurants. In 2019, Bridgeman was honored by Greater Louisville Inc. being awarded the group’s Gold Cup which is given in honor of lifetime community service and leadership.
Although he may have found his way to Louisville via basketball, it’s clear Bridgeman has made the Kentucky city his home. All it took was a little hard work and some smart investments.
