Bridgeman, known as well for 12 years as a small forward/shooting with the Milwaukee Bucks, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 71. His death has created a void in both the basketball and the business worlds, where he was widely admired as a self-made success.

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,