Remembering Junior Bridgeman: How a NBA Sixth Man Built a Billion Dollar Legacy

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, recently, a minority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks team for which he once played, died Tuesday after suffering a medical emergency during an event in Louisville, Kentucky. Bridgeman was 71.

A native of East Chicago, Indiana, who starred on the 1971 Washington High School Senators' 29-0 state championship team, Bridgeman became an All-American at Louisville, reaching the 1975 Final Four. The Los Angeles Lakers drafted the 6-foot-5 wing at No. 8 in 1975 then traded him to Milwaukee as part of a blockbuster deal for Bucks star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Bridgeman played 12 seasons in the NBA, 10 of them with the Bucks and two with the LA Clippers. He averaged 13.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25 minutes per game over his career, during which he established himself as one of the game's best sixth men. He also served as president of the National Basketball Players Association from 1985 to 1988.

Famously, Bridgeman made about $2.95 million in his NBA career and never more than $350,000 in a season. But after his career, he built a fast-food empire that, at its peak, totaled more than 450 restaurants nationwide. He became a Coca-Cola bottling distributor with territory across three states and into Canada. He bought Ebony and Jet magazines. He invested in NBA Africa.

In September, Bridgeman purchased a 10% stake in the Bucks, and in February, Forbes reported that Bridgeman's net worth had surpassed $1.4 billion.

Bridgeman was a popular fixture in Louisville after his playing days, and Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city had "lost a kind, generous and groundbreaking legend" when announcing his death.

Long after his playing career, Bridgeman spoke to NBA players -- rookies, veterans and entire teams -- about financial literacy, a topic he was deeply passionate about after seeing a number of notable athletes across sports face financial ruin. As the years went on, and as salaries rose in the NBA, Bridgeman preached caution.

Bridgeman also wanted athletes to consider the concept of generational wealth -- the idea of players stretching their earnings into future generations of their family. Last year, he expressed to ESPN how proud he was that his own family -- his three children -- had become involved in the various parts of the business empire that he helped build.

Written by Baxter Holmes of ESPN and The Associated Press