On the afternoon of March 11, 2025, the city of Louisville lost an accomplished athlete, leader, man of God, philanthropist, great husband, proud father, successful businessman, and friend.
Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman, raised in Gary, Indiana, played basketball at the University of Louisville where he led the 1974-75 team to a Final Four appearance. He went on to have a 12-year-NBA career while also serving as the president of the National Basketball Players Association for three of those years.
Following his basketball career, Mr. Bridgeman invested in the fast-food industry and eventually owned over 450 restaurants. He was the president and CEO of Bridgeman Foods Inc, an owner of Coca-Cola Canada’s bottling operations, and a partial owner of his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks. These endeavors, along with many others, places him in rare company as one of only four billionaire NBA players: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Junior Bridgeman.
Mr. Bridgeman lived as notable a life as anyone; however, his legacy is not defined by his numerous achievements or wealth he accumulated. His positive impact on the people and community around him is what many remember most fondly about “Junior.” With the purpose of honoring Junior’s life, here is what some of his close friends and peers had to share:
Terry Howard: Former Louisville Basketball Player
Ulysses was a great friend and one of my favorites for 54 years on AND off the court. We would meet for lunch (the last lunch last month in Feb 2025), sharing words of wisdom and solving the world’s problems and, at the same time, tons of laughs. I would text him all the time, recognizing him and all his accomplishments and telling him how proud I was of him. I was so very proud of my friend and running mate. We often spoke about our families and how blessed we are. We discussed simplifying our lives and making every day a better day! Ulysses helped so many people and foundations without any recognition or credit for his great deeds and service. He gave and gave and gave and always stayed in the background, never seeking anything in return. He listened more than he spoke and LED by EXAMPLE. He was a leader. He was still giving on the day that he passed (speaking at the National Boy Scout Convention). I am honored to have such a fantastic friend — Thank you, Ulysses, for your KINDNESS.
We love you and we miss you. Thoughts and prayers to you, Doris, Eden, Justin, Ryan, and the entire family. Love you.
Kenny Payne: Arkansas Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach
When I first met junior personally, I was a college freshman. My mentor when I was a freshman was Gary Smith who was a great person and great basketball player. One day, he told me we were going to Junior Bridgeman’s house. They were teammates with the LA Clippers. When we were driving over there, he was telling me that Junior was the smartest guy out of all the professional athletes he’d ever met. When we got there, we had dinner. We sat there on the back patio and were talking to Junior. He was so unassuming, so humble and seemed just like a normal guy. When we were in the car on the way back, Gary was like, “Did you notice anything?” I said “He doesn’t brag, he’s not loud, and he just listens to people. You know he cares about each person he’s around.” That was my first impression of Junior and the first thing I learned: nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
When I came back to get my degree at Louisville, he was one of the first people I went out with to help me get through the program where former players came back to schools and got their degree. We were talking about where I wanted to take my life—what I was going to do next—and I had no idea. He said to me, “Kenny, here is how you become successful: find what you’re passionate about and find a way to make money doing it.” I had to soul search for a while to realize that the only thing I truly loved and was successful at was basketball. I learned to give forth my knowledge of basketball and how to treat people and how to treat players. I learned that from his words of wisdom.
There are no words that truly describe how great junior was. There are no words. People often use these words of generosity, giving, loving, or humble. You have to multiply those words by a thousand to really identify who Junior Bridgeman was.
Eric Wood: Former Louisville Football and Buffalo Bills Center
Right after the football season in 2016, we went to Southeast Christian, where we attend church. I didn’t want to mingle much after another disappointing season with the Bills, so we snuck in the side and sat in the back. I looked at Leslie (my wife) midway through the service and said, “That looks like Junior Bridgeman serving communion.” Sure enough, it was, and it was very convincing to me that the most famous person at our church was serving and not trying to blend in. I flipped my mindset about how I attended Southeast from that point forward.
Chauncey Billups: Portland Trailblazers Head Coach and Basketball Hall of Famer
I would say the thing I admired the most about Junior was the fact that he ALWAYS saw the best in everyone. He showed people tremendous grace. My moral compass became, “What would Junior do in this situation?” That is the respect and reverence I have for him.
Jerry Roby: St. X Board Chair
One amazing thing recently is the number of times Junior’s name has come up in every meeting I have attended between Louisville, Indianapolis, and Chicago. He was known and respected far beyond the Louisville community.
My overriding memory of Junior always revolves around him being a man of GOD. He lived his faith every day and served our community in so many ways. He received a lot of recognition for being a billionaire, but his true riches came from living out his Christian faith. I’ve heard so many stories of the people Junior helped and mentored over the years, with no desire to receive any credit or recognition. “To whom much is given, much is required”—Junior lived this out to the fullest and served his Lord every day of his life!
Another thing that sticks out to me when personally remembering Junior was how he always listened to people’s comments very intently before providing a response. His comments were always well thought out and meaningful. I was blessed to spend some time with him at a Derby event a few years back. There were multiple celebrities and professional sports figures around, but while he and I talked, he treated me like I was the most important person in the room. He also treated everyone in the room the same way, and that is a rare gift.
Wade Houston: Former Louisville Basketball Player
Junior Bridgeman and I were friends for over 30 years. During this time, I witnessed and admired his philanthropic participation in Louisville and surrounding communities. Not once did I hear him indicate that he wanted credit for his giving and attempts to make our city a better place to live.
Our city is blessed to have had Junior Bridgeman with us—a man who was determined to make a positive impact on our community.
Larry O’Bannon: Former Louisville Basketball Player
Mr. Bridgeman was a great role model for me and was the epitome of humility. I got the chance to know him at the age of 15 when his son, Ryan, and I were on the same high school basketball team. Oftentimes, I would go out to his office to visit him and just sit and talk about life and how the family was doing as I got older. One year, I went to visit his office just to talk and catch up after I had gotten home from playing basketball in Europe for 10 months, and he asked if I was doing camp this particular year. I told him yes, and I was excited to get back and coach the kids. The next week, he surprised us and sent lunches for all of my kids at camp for the entire week without us even knowing about it. That’s just the type of man he was—caring, genuine, and always being a servant to others. What I will remember about him most was that he always made time for people and was willing to help anybody with a positive, impactful cause.
Scott Davenport: Bellarmine Men’s Basketball Coach
Junior always had a perspective of life that was in constant pursuit of improvement. This was for his future, his family’s future, and his team’s future. “How?” This is always the question that must be answered. Everyone says they want to be the best, make others better, win… How do we get better? How do we win?
What I admired and learned from the life’s examples taught and demonstrated by Junior, and what I applied to coaching and teaching young men, is the desire to be successful—so how do I teach them? Through athletics, especially team sports at all levels, there are opportunities every day to learn lessons that will last forever. Dedication, passion, and attention to detail are challenges those athletes at all levels can apply to achieving their dreams forever! Adding this to learning the value of teamwork and the realization that—very seldom is the best player the best team—teaches the value of teamwork that can last a lifetime. These lessons begin at home and are used forever.
Junior Bridgeman, in a career second to none, applied these values on and off the court, at home, and in the boardroom!
Doug Davenport: Former Bellarmine Men’s Basketball Coach
Due to my father’s connection to Louisville Basketball, I had known Junior for quite some time but certainly was not close with him.
This was probably around the summer of 2004. I was still in high school and caddying at Valhalla during the summer months. My brother and I had caddied early on a Saturday morning in a group that included Junior, as well as three other prominent Louisville businessmen. The group probably teed off at 8:30 or 9:00 and concluded play around 12:30.
After hanging out around the caddy shack for a few minutes after the round, my brother and I headed to the Wendy’s on Shelbyville Road to eat lunch. We quickly noticed a rather tall guy working behind the counter… and it was Junior.
For a man of his considerable wealth to go work behind the counter at one of his Wendy’s stores shows you the humility with which Junior lived. The way he treated a high school kid and aspiring basketball coach as his caddy—always asking questions and genuinely listening to the response—showed you the level of compassion he had.
The loss of Junior is not only a tragedy for his family and close friends but for everyone who ever came across his path. We will all miss him dearly.
Troy Hanke: Friend of Junior
When I first started with Junior in 2001, he had just “overpaid” for three large Wendy’s markets that weren’t performing well. Cash was very tight, and banks were nervous as to whether or not we were going to make it. Junior (and our team) worked tirelessly to improve operations, refinance the existing debt, and strengthen the financial condition the company. After a couple years of continued improvement, I convinced Junior to “diversify has holdings” by selling some of our Wendy’s real estate and putting the cash “on the sidelines”. I wanted to ensure that he and his family would always be fine if Wendy’s ever ran into significant trouble. Less than a year after executing this plan, Junior was approached with an opportunity to buy about 85 Chili’s restaurants in the Midwest. I told him that buying these restaurants would require that he use every penny of the cash that we had intended to provide a lifetime of financial security for his family. He told me that he had several long term managers that may have run four to six Wendy’s at that time, and giving them the opportunity to run 10 to 20 Chili’s would totally change their lives and the lives of their families. I knew at that point that the “Book” that was guiding him was much more important than any finance/economics books that were guiding me. He made his decisions based on what was best for the people that worked for him, and not on what was best for him.
We should honor Mr. Bridgeman’s legacy by being mindful of “What Would Junior Think” in our daily lives. What a way to live our lives and make decisions!! He was truly the Greatest Human that I’ve ever met!!
Jeff Clark: Friend of Junior
Mr. B, he was truly my everything! He helped me with business decisions and life decisions. He was my best friend, like a dad and my favorite golf partner. When he asked me to play in the member guest at Vahalla, it was the pinnacle of my golf career. I loved all of our golf trips, the courses were special, but the time together is something I will treasure the rest of my days. I know I will see him again and I can’t wait to tell him to “pick it up that putt is good!” Love you forever and always.
In all of these stories, we can see glimpses of what made Junior a truly great man. It was not his numerous accolades, his basketball career, or his wealth. Instead, he was best defined by the integrity with which he lived his life and the way he treated others around him.
