“Yeah this one really hit hard,” Shaquille O’Neal Share’s How the Late Junior Bridgeman Influenced his Success

Junior Bridgeman

A Former Milwaukee Bucks player, minority owner, and one of the nation’s top businessmen, Junior Bridgeman, passed away on Tuesday. Many in the Milwaukee community have felt his life and impact, and his passing has been memorialized by multiple organizations and notable names. 

After speaking at the 45th Annual Leadership Luncheon on Scouting at The Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky; Bridgeman would suffer a massive medical emergency. He would express this directly after finishing an interview with a local news reporter, claiming that he thought he was having a heart attack after finishing the program with the journalist. His suspicions were confirmed to be true, Junior Bridgeman would be rushed away in an ambulance where he later passed away. 

The former University of Louisville star would lead his alma mater to the NCAA Final Four twice, before heading to the NBA to play for the Milwaukee Bucks. Bridgeman was drafted 8th overall in the 1975 NBA Draft, remaining with the team for almost a decade before a short stint with the Clippers to wrap up his career. He would finish after 12 years in the league, having solid success with Sidney Moncrief and Marques Johnson leading to multiple Eastern Conference Finals trips. His number (#2) would later be retired in January of 1988, he’s still among the all-time leaders in Milwaukee in points, minutes, steals, and more. 

Bridgeman’s passing leaves a profound void in inspiring younger generations to follow their passions in business. He was a mentor for many young athletes who modeled their basketball skills after the Milwaukee Buck’s legend, but they also modeled their business skills off of his prototype for post-career success. Despite never making more than $350,000 a season during his playing days, he had a net worth of over $600 million due to his business strategies that resulted in him becoming one of the wealthiest former players in NBA history. 

After a segment on TNT’s post-game program, business mogul and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal had a lot to say about Junior Bridgeman’s passing. Being one of the wealthiest former players of all time, a lot of former players have taken inspiration from how he has not only modeled his businesses but how he maintained continued success with those ventures. The Forbes magazine would report that his net worth had transcended over $1.4 billion in February. 

Shaq has also been given praise for his business success post-career, including owning multiple chain restaurants, many sponsorship deals, and a passion for improving his community. All of these descriptors could describe both of the former NBA players, that’s because Shaq modeled his business sense off of Bridgmena’s. Giving the late friend a lot of credit for business successes, claiming that he didn’t even know where to start until Bridgeman guided the way. 

“Yeah this one really hit hard,” States Shaq “A lot of people don’t know this but I’ve patterned my whole business acumen after Junior.” 

He would talk about how Bridgeman would tell active players the stories of how 75% of athletes are broke after they’re done playing. If it wasn’t for Bridgeman, a lot of players wouldn’t have known where to start. He didn’t gatekeep, according to Shaq he was an open book and was more than willing to help a young man become successful in their business ventures. Bridgeman made the call that helped Shaq become the new face of the popular pizza chain, Papa John’s. He would finish his story with a heartfelt condolence to the family of Bridgeman, echoing a sentiment that was felt all around the league for the NBA legend. 

“(To the) Bridgeman family my condolences go out, this one hurts a lot.”