The Milwaukee Bucks and basketball world were shocked on Tuesday to learn that Junior Bridgeman, whose #2 jersey hangs in the rafters of Fiserv Forum, suddenly passed away. It is believed that he suffered a heart attack.

Junior Bridgeman Junior Bridgeman at the Hermitage Grand Gala Derby Eve Party at Hermitage Farm in Goshen, Ky.
Just last year, Bridgeman had purchased a 10% stake in the Bucks organization and became a minority owner of the team that drafted him all the way back in 1975.

But Bridgeman’s legacy will live on far outside the basketball court, where he played the third-most games in a Milwaukee uniform in Bucks history. Instead, he will be remembered as a self-made billionaire whose hard work ethic, kindness, and charity touched thousands of lives.

Shaq Reveals He Patterned His Business Investments After Those of Milwaukee Bucks Legend Junior Bridgeman

An undated photo of Junior Bridgeman dunking. Bridgeman gave his best years to Milwaukee.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and LeBron James are the wealthiest current/former NBA players of all time. Each of them has a net worth of well over $1 billion. But when many look up lists of the richest players of all time, they are surprised to find Bridgeman’s name immediately following theirs.

Despite making an annual salary of around $350,000 annually as an NBA player, Bridgeman invested his earnings into business and became a self-made billionaire. And while he used his business acumen to give back to the community, he also was not shy about advising others who sought his council.

One of these people was NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who revealed on Tuesday’s TNT broadcast that he would not be the success that he is today without the Bucks legend.

“This one really hit hard for me,” Shaq said. “A lot of people don’t know this, but I patterned my whole business acumen after Junior Bridgeman.

“They always tell us stories about how 75% of athletes, you know, zero to five years after they are done playing, go broke. And I never wanted to be that. So I started looking at people. Michael, of course. Magic. But I remember one time the Forbes list came out, and I said, ‘I know I’m on this list, all the commercials I did.’ And I saw his name.

“So I reached out to him and we started talking. He had Wendy’s, so I started Big Chicken. Everything that he did, I tried to pattern after him. He just helped me the other day, we were getting ready to do business.”

Shaq also revealed that Bridgeman gave him advice freely, never expecting anything in return.

Indeed, the Bucks community and the world in general lost a great one today.