Remembering the Remarkable Life of NBA’s Junior Bridgeman

Basketball fans of a certain age will remember Junior Bridgeman, an NBA basketball player who spent the majority of his 12-season career with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Born Ulysses Lee Bridgeman, Jr., the Indiana-native-turned-Louisville, Kentucky legend averaged 13.6 points per game and gained a reputation for being a reliable “sixth man” – a steady force who could step in, score and regularly deliver for his team.

But Junior, who passed away suddenly last month at the age of 71, had an even more remarkable post-playing career – a rare professional athlete who peaked following his retirement from the NBA.

To be sure, it was his devout and dedicated faith in Jesus Christ that framed and informed his entire life and career.

At his memorial service, his brother Samuel spoke lovingly about growing up in their Christian home where their parents sang in the church choir. The boys sang in the youth choir. His father, known as “Deac” for his ordained status as a deacon, told and taught Junior and Samuel three main things:

1. “You’re going to be too busy to get in trouble.” The boys stayed active in school, sports, church and the community.
   
   
   
2. “If you don’t go to college, prepare yourself for manual labor.” The Bridgeman boys’ father ran a janitorial service, and both Junior and Samuel worked with him before school.
   
   
   
3. “If you ever get arrested, pray I don’t come to get you.” While a loving father, the Bridgeman’s dad was no-nonsense and had little tolerance for disobedience.
   
   

Raised with strong faith and solid morals, Junior somehow went from not being able to afford the $1.25 membership fee to join the Boy Scouts to a Forbes’ estimated net worth of more than $1.4 billion.

The former NBA standout did it the old-fashioned way – by saving, investing, and working. He never earned more than $350,000 a year playing basketball.

Traded to the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a deal that sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers, Bridgeman became intrigued that Bucks’ general manager Wayne Embry, once an NBA player, owned McDonald’s franchises.

In time, Junior invested in Wendy’s, even working at the stores he purchased to better understand the business. Fans would feel sorry for him, thinking he was destitute. He grew his portfolio to over 500 stores, along with over 100 Chili’s, Coca-Cola bottling facilities and even Ebony and Jet magazines.

As a public acknowledgement of his strong Christian faith, Junior named his company “Manna” after the miraculous food that God sent to the Israelites each morning during their 40-year journey in the desert. He led Bible studies and eventually hired a chaplain for the company. When the minister was interviewing with him for the job, he asked the billionaire what he saw as his main responsibility.

“Just take care of my people,” Bridgeman told him. “We’re in the people business.”

The former NBA star saw the integration of his faith and business as natural and a necessity. A pastor friend said Junior believed, “Only when you mix your business with your religion do you prove religion and improve your business.”

Junior was committed to using his resources to help and encourage others.

“If you can’t look back over your life and see where you’ve helped someone, a group of people, a number of people make their lives better, if you can’t do that, then however many years you’ve lived I say you’ve just lived in vain. You’ve missed the mark,” he once reflected.

For Junior, Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel were a life verse: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

“There will always be more than enough people to tell you what you can’t do” or why you will fail, Bridgeman said. “I think you have to listen to all of them, but don’t make them the true compass of what you’re trying to do and the true compass of your life.

“You have to look within yourself and determine, ‘Is this something I’m really dedicated to doing and that I want to see happen?’”

When he passed away, his family, which included Doris, his wife for over 50 years, daughter Eden, and sons, Ryan and Justin, said, “Junior’s generous spirit and unwavering faith were a guiding light to all who knew him. While we grieve his passing, we take comfort in knowing he is at peace in his heavenly home, reunited with loved ones who have gone before him.”

Image credit: X.