Ulysses Lee "Junior" Bridgeman (born September 17, 1953) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Bridgeman played in the National Basketball League (NBA) for twelve years from 1975 until 1987, beginning with the Milwaukee Bucks. Bridgeman is the current owner of Ebony and Jet magazines. Despite never making more than $350,000 a season during his NBA career, Bridgeman has a net worth of over $600 million, making him one of the wealthiest former athletes in the world. Career High school career Born in East Chicago, Indiana, Bridgeman was a member of the 1971 Washington High School Senators basketball team, which went undefeated (29–0) and won the Indiana state high school basketball championship. Among his teammates were his brother Sam, Pete Trgovich (who played at UCLA) and Tim Stoddard (N.C. State), who would go on to have success as a Major League Baseball pitcher. College career A tall guard/forward, Bridgeman attended the University of Louisville, playing under Coach Denny Crum. Bridgeman was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year in 1974 and 1975. Bridgeman led the Louisville Cardinals to the 1974 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament as a junior. As a senior, he led the Cardinals to the Final Four of the 1975 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, where they lost the eventual NCAA Champion UCLA 75–74 in the National Semi-Final. In his collegiate career at Louisville, Bridgeman averaged 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 87 career games. NBA career Bridgeman was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1975 NBA draft in the first round (#8 overall pick). On June 16, 1975, almost three weeks after the draft, Bridgeman was involved in a landmark trade. Bridgeman was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers with David Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Walt Wesley. As a rookie with Milwaukee in 1975–1976 under coach Larry Costello, Bridgeman averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists. In 1976–1977, Costello was fired by Milwaukee after a 3–15 start and assistant coach Don Nelson, who had been a player for the 1976 NBA champion Boston Celtics the year before, was hired as coach. Bridgeman improved, averaging 14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. On December 15, 1976, Bridgeman scored a career-high 41 points in a 129–125 loss against Boston. Nelson and Bridgeman would remain together for the next eight seasons. Bridgeman