Ex-NBA player, entrepreneur Bridgeman dies at 71

Junior Bridgeman, a former NBA sixth man who rose from modest means to forge one of the most successful post-playing business careers of any professional athlete, becoming a billionaire philanthropist and, recently, a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks team for which he once played, died Tuesday after suffering a medical emergency during an event in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bridgeman was 71.

Multiple Louisville television stations reported that Bridgeman grabbed his chest at one point during a fundraising luncheon, expressing that he believed he was suffering a heart attack. The stations, including WLKY and WAVE, reported that emergency medical personnel were called.

"I am devastated to learn of the sudden passing of Junior Bridgeman," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. "Junior was the ultimate entrepreneur who built on his impactful 12-year NBA playing career by becoming a highly respected and successful business leader. He served as a mentor to generations of NBA players and athletes across sports who were eager to learn from him about what it takes to thrive in the business world. Junior was a dedicated member of the NBA family for 50 years -- most recently as a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, an investor in NBA Africa and as a player who set the standard for representing the league and our game with class and dignity.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to Junior's wife, Doris, their children, Eden, Justin and Ryan, the Bucks organization, and his many friends and admirers in the basketball community."

A native of East Chicago, Indiana, who starred on the 1971 Washington High School Senators' 29-0 state championship team, Bridgeman became an All-American for the Louisville Cardinals, reaching the 1975 Final Four. The Los Angeles Lakers drafted the 6-foot-5 wing at No. 8 in 1975, then traded him to Milwaukee as part of a blockbuster deal for Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA, 10 of them with the Bucks and two with the LA Clippers. He averaged 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25 minutes over his career, during which he established himself as one of the game's best sixth men. He also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association from 1985 to 1988.

Famously, Bridgeman made about $2.95 million in his NBA career and never more than $350,000 in a season. But after his career, he built a fast-food empire that, at its peak, totaled more than 450 restaurants nationwide. He became a Coca-Cola bottling distributor with territory across three states and into Canada. He bought Ebony and Jet magazines. He invested in NBA Africa.

In September, Bridgeman purchased a 10% stake in the Bucks, and in February, Forbes reported that Bridgeman's net worth had surpassed $1.4 billion.

In a statement, the Bucks said they were "shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Bucks legend and owner Junior Bridgeman. Junior's retired No. 2 jersey hangs in Fiserv Forum, serving as a constant remembrance of his outstanding play on the court and his impact on the Bucks' success. His hard work and perseverance led him to become one of the nation's top business leaders and, last September, Junior's professional life came full circle when he returned to the Bucks family as an owner. His memory will always be an inspiration to the Bucks organization."

Bridgeman's success was far afield from his blue-collar beginnings. In East Chicago, Bridgeman wanted to join the Boy Scouts, but the $1.25 membership fee was too much for his family to afford. In high school, Bridgeman spent summers working odd jobs, making about $20 to $40 per week -- money he tried to stretch throughout the school year. At Louisville, he worked summers at a farm equipment manufacturer, a steel-cutting company, as well as the midnight-to-7 a.m. shift at a Ford truck plant a couple of times a week.

Bridgeman was a popular fixture in Louisville after his playing days, and Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city had "lost a kind, generous and groundbreaking legend" when announcing his death.

"He was an All-American at U of L ... 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."

Prior to Milwaukee's game Tuesday night, Bucks coach Doc Rivers called Bridgeman a strong role model.

"Think about that kid growing up, wanting to be an NBA player, probably his dream, and he turned that dream into becoming an NBA owner," Rivers said. "He is the exact model the league should use every day when they are talking to our young players."

Long after his playing career, Bridgeman spoke to NBA players -- rookies and veterans and entire teams -- about financial literacy, a topic he was deeply passionate about seeing a number of notable athletes across sports face financial ruin. As the years went on, and as salaries rose in the NBA, Bridgeman preached caution.

"Money can disappear," he told ESPN last summer. "Whether it's $80,000 or $80 million, it can still disappear on you."

Bridgeman also wanted athletes to consider the concept of generational wealth -- the idea of players stretching their earnings into future generations of their family. Last year, he expressed to ESPN how proud he was that his own family -- his three children -- had become involved in the various parts of the business empire that he helped build.

Looking back on his life after basketball, Bridgeman told ESPN, "It was fun. People said, 'How could it be fun?' It was. It was fun -- like playing basketball."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.