Ancient Louisville Men’s Basketball Team star Junior Bridgeman would buy a 10% stake in Milwaukee Bucks.
Bridgeman, 70, is getting a 15% discount (or a $3.4 billion valuation) as a preferred sponsor to buy a piece of the franchise where he spent 10 of his 12 seasons. NBAaccording to a CNBC report Thursday.
The deal reportedly values the Bucks at $4 billion.
Bridgeman played for Hall of Famer Denny Crum at the University of Louisville from 1972-75 and, as a senior, helped the Cardinals reach the Final Four. He was selected eighth overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1975 draft and later traded to Milwaukee.
It was there that Bridgeman began building an entrepreneurial empire by purchasing Wendy’s restaurants throughout the city. He later found success running Chili’s restaurants and a Coca-Cola bottling company. In 2020, he bought the Ebony and Jet chargers after going bankrupt.
Bridgeman’s estimated net worth, by a recent ESPN profileis nearly $600 million. In 2016, Forbes ranked it the fourth richest retired athlete in the world — behind only Michael Jordan, David Beckham and Arnold Palmer — with an estimated income of $32 million.
In 2020, a report from Yahoo! Sports linked Bridgeman to speculation that the Toronto Raptors would temporarily relocate to Louisville as a possible short-term solution to Canada’s COVID-19 travel restrictions at the time. But Bridgeman told the Courier Journal There was “absolutely no truth” to the story and “the time was past” for him to seek to bring an NBA team to the city.
“Two years ago, I asked the league if there was an expansion,” Bridgeman said at the time. “They said they weren’t considering expansion, but if they did, the two biggest cities would be Seattle and Mexico City. I haven’t heard back since.”
ESPN reported Tuesday NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said expansion was not discussed at this week’s meeting of the league’s board of governors, but would be addressed during the 2024-25 season.
Contact Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
This article was originally published in the Louisville Courier Journal: Junior Bridgeman reportedly buying shares in Milwaukee Bucks
