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Shaquille O'Neal: Yeah, this one really hit hard for me. A lot of people don't know this, but I've patterned my whole business acumen after Junior Bridgeman. You know, they always tell us stories about how 75% of athletes, two to five years after they're done playing, go broke, and I never wanted to be that. So I always started looking at people—Michael, of course, Magic—but I remember one time the Forbes list came out, and I was like, Oh, I know I'm on this list with all the commercials I do. But then I saw his name. I reached out to him, and we started talking. He had Wendy's, so I started Big Chicken. You know, Pepsi and Coke—everything that he did, I tried to pattern after him. I actually just talked to him the other day because we were getting ready to do business. My condolences go out to his partner, Charles, to his family, his daughter, and his son. This one really hit hard for me because he was definitely somebody I looked up to. I know I get a lot of credit—Oh, you do this and you do that—but if it wasn’t for Bridgeman, I wouldn’t have known where to start.
If Bridgeman’s name sounds familiar, it should. The 8th overall pick in the 1975 NBA draft—in which Hall of Famer David Thompson was selected first—the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Bridgeman in the deal that sent Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers. Bridgeman went on to have a formidable career as a sixth man, long before the league handed out an award for the role. Following his retirement after 12 seasons—including 10 in Milwaukee—in which he never earned more than $350,000 as a player, Bridgeman built a fast-food empire that included more than 500 Wendy’s, Chili’s and Pizza Hut franchises at its peak in 2015. Then, in 2016, Bridgeman sold most of his restaurants for an estimated $250 million and used the proceeds to become a Coca-Cola distributor with a territory spanning three states. Over the last eight years, Bridgeman has grown his bottling business’ revenue almost threefold to nearly $1 billion in 2023. Today, Forbes estimates that Bridgeman has a net worth of $1.4 billion. “He didn’t waste his time just thinking about the game of basketball,” LeBron James says of Bridgeman. “He’s always had a business mindset. “
Junior Bridgeman, who played for the Milwaukee Bucks from 1975 to 1984, laughed. What the woman didn't know was that the recently-retired Bridgeman wasn't merely working at that Wendy's location. The 6-foot-5 former wing owned it -- and others across the city. But Bridgeman understood her point. Salaries for players then weren't that high by today's standards. In Bridgeman's 12-season career, which included a stint with the LA Clippers, he made about $2.95 million and never more than $350,000 in a season. 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. His estimated net worth soared to nearly $600 million, behind just Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, among NBA players.
The next year, in 1988, Bridgeman invested what remained from his NBA savings -- about $750,000 -- to buy five Wendy's locations in Milwaukee. He would still spend time with his current and former teammates in the Milwaukee area. Then, Bridgeman would say, "Well, I have to go to the restaurant." And he'd be off. "He'd be working in the restaurant like he was an hourly worker," Moncrief said. "I witnessed that. I was thinking, what the heck is he doing in there flipping burgers, washing dishes, and he had those work pants on. But he understood the value of learning thoroughly what you're investing in -- very, very hands on." Moncrief watched how Bridgeman would write out checks, a small task that could have easily been delegated. "He wanted to know where every check was going," Moncrief said. "When money went out, he wanted to feel that."
Participating Wisconsin Wendy's are offering patrons a free small Frosty after every 2021 Bucks Finals win, according to a news release. The freebie is good for 24 hours following the win, and no purchase is necessary.
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Derrick Favors grew up in the same neighborhood in which Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot. He knew the same people. Although he’s never indulged, he remembers when the Wendy’s was built. He became a basketball savant in the same streets. He knows that instead of an NBA star, he could have been Brooks, the 27 year-old black man who was recently shot and killed as he was running from police who tried to arrest him for public intoxication. Favors could have been a statistic. Favors could have become a Twitter hashtag. That’s why it was personal.
Billups remains strongly involved in Porter-Billups Leadership Academy in Denver. He also co-owns 30 Wendy's fast-food franchises with former NBA player Junior Bridgeman in the St. Louis area. "Right now, I am kind of taking it easy," Billups said. "I have always said I had a desire to work in a front office somewhere or also do TV commentating or studio work. Those are the things I desire the most. But at the moment I'll enjoying taking it easy. We'll see where it leads."
Imagine pulling up to a Wendy’s drive-thru and giving your order to “Mr. Big Shot.” That’s possible if you go to one of 30 St. Louis area Wendy’s owned by Pistons guard Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Junior Bridgeman. Bridgeman, whose net worth of $240 million exceeds that of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, has had a profound influence on Billups. Not so much on the court as off it. “I was in my prime, but I started thinking about what am I going to do (after basketball),” said Billups, who entered this season with hopes of being an everyday starter before “Father Time” started catching up. (He has played in 18 of 41 games, averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 assists.)
Louisville businessman and former NBA star Junior Bridgeman has joined current NBA player Chauncey Billups in the purchase of 30 St. Louis restaurants from Wendy's Co. As the St. Louis Business Journal reported, the deal continues Bridgeman's long-term relationship with the Wendy's chain but marks a foray into the restaurant industry for Billups, a veteran guard who now plays for the Detroit Pistons.
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After a celebrated career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, Junior Bridgeman was working the line at a Wendy’s fast- food restaurant in Milwaukee. “My job was to make sure what you ordered was on your tray and to thank you for coming,” he told an assembled group of active and retired professional athletes hosted by the Allied Athletes Group earlier this year in Atlanta. “A woman came in and looked at me like she recognized me.” He didn’t think anything about it until the next day, when he heard a woman call into a local talk show and say, “I think it’s a shame. I was at the Wendy’s and I saw Junior Bridgeman working behind the counter … if that’s the best these ex-athletes can do…”
But Bridgeman just laughed. Perhaps, it’s because the last laugh really is his. He owned that particular Wendy’s plus several others. Today his company runs 162 Wendy’s and 121 Chili’s and is No. 3 on the Restaurant Finance Monitor’s Top 200 franchisee-owned companies, with $507 million in revenue. In addition, he has other restaurant deals in the works. And while nothing beats the high of winning a game at the very top competitive level, he says giving jobs to people and watching them develop is heart-warming, if not exactly heart-thumping. “He’d always say each day, each opportunity was like a brand-new game,” his wife of 34 years, Doris Bridgeman, says about the restaurant business. “I knew his heart wasn’t in staying in athletics. I knew he wanted to be his own boss.”
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