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Bridgeman owned that Wendy's and was just starting to build the business empire that would eventually make him one of the few former pro athletes to become a billionaire and one of the most successful businesspeople to ever emerge from Northwest Indiana. Bridgeman died Tuesday at 71. "Once you get into fast-food ownership, you do everything.
You cook the burgers, you clean the bathrooms, you do it all," said his lifelong friend Curtis Phillips, who had known him since kindergarten in East Chicago's Indiana Harbor neighborhood. "He had the success he did because he had smart business sense and because of his personality, his demeanor and the relationships he built outside of professional athletics. Having been as successful as he was with the Wendy's restaurants, that gave him entry into other opportunities.
That's how he built his business." Friends and former classmates who recall him playing pickup basketball in Sunnyside Park in the Harbor remember Bridgeman as hard-working, intelligent and personable. They said the son of a steelworker was motivated to be successful in life but maintained his Region roots, such as by returning for the 50th anniversary of the East Chicago Washington class of 1971 and giving a talk to the Gary Chamber of Commerce.
"Junior’s passing hit me like a bolt of lightning. So sudden. I knew him from the playground pick-up basketball," Gary Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Chuck Hughes said.
"When I reached out to him and explained to him the purpose of the Lakeshore Classic and its benefit to student-athletes he consented on the spot to come and speak, especially when I told him that his beloved East Chicago team was participating. From the moment he flew into the Gary Airport, he was our Northwest Indiana hero." Bridgeman, Philips and Slavka Sucevic referred to themselves as the trio, having gone to school from the first day of kindergarten through the end of high school together.
They started at Franklin Elementary School and were selected together for an advanced academic class at Washington Elementary School near Washington High School. "He was gentle in the best sense. He was a good friend.
If you needed him for anything, all you had to do was ask and he'd have your back," Sucevic said. "He was highly intelligent. People don't remember that because he was such a basketball star.
There was just something about him. He had a quality and a really good heart. His niceness was so true, which is why so many people are crushed by his sudden death.
" Bridgeman was quick to smile and laugh and had a good sense of humor, she said. He made Washington and the Indiana Harbor neighborhood proud by helping the Senators win the state championship during the undefeated 1971 season and by going on to lead the Louisville Cardinals to the Final Four, she said. "He came from humble beginnings and that motivated him," she said.
"He helped so many people down the road and paid it forward." Bridgeman was considered one of the greatest sixth men in NBA history during his 10 years with the Bucks after he was drafted by the Lakers and traded with three other players for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He made his fortune, which Forbes just estimated to be $1.
4 billion, after retiring from the league and going on to own Wendy's, Pizza Hut and Chili's restaurants, as well as a Coca-Cola bottling company and Ebony and Jet magazines. Forbes says that Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Tiger Woods are the only other pro athletes to become billionaires. Phillips had known him since they were 5 years old.
They used to walk to school together every day and stayed in touch over the years. "He was a smart kid and a great guy," he said. "He was athletic and he was kind to everybody.
" Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts He, Bridgeman and other friends made a bond that they would go on to be successful in life. "We were all successful, though obviously not as successful as him," he said. "We were good students who pushed each other or as my wife would say, nerds.
But we were smart nerds, cool nerds." Bridgeman was known as a basketball player but was well-rounded, playing clarinet and saxophone in band, he said. He served as vice president of his junior and senior classes.
"Growing up in the Harbor, everyone's dad worked at the mills," he said. "We knew a better life was out there. We didn't know what that was, but we were willing to explore and try to find out.
There was the life you led growing up and you just wanted more." Phillips often played basketball in parks against Bridgeman over the years, watching his game develop over time. Always a great rebounder and defender, he for instance became a better shooter as he went on to college and the pros.
"It's funny because we played together so often you appreciate that somebody's good but are not in awe of them," he said. "He was a comrade in pickup ball but made the team and succeeded in performing at a high level." His success on the court was huge for Washington because its crosstown rival East Chicago Roosevelt High School had won the state title during its undefeated 1970 season, Phillips said.
Bridgeman and the other Washington seniors vowed to do the same in 1971 and they did. "If you want a fight to break out, get together some East Chicago Roosevelt and Washington alums and ask who was the better team," he said. "Blood will be spilled.
" Bridgeman was competitive but quiet and not a trash talker, Phillips said. He enjoyed his sixth man role with the Bucks, coming in and providing instant offense off the bench. He was on a young and talented team but one that never made it to the NBA Finals because they could not get past the Eastern Conference giants of that era: Larry Bird's Celtics and Dr.
J's 76ers. He would visit Phillips for dinner and to catch up after the game anytime he played in Cleveland, where Phillips was transferred for work. Bridgeman ended up going into business after talking to Bucks owner Herb Kohl and starting to read the Wall Street Journal every day, Phillips said.
"He just aspired to be a successful businessperson but didn't limit himself to owning, say, just 20 restaurants," he said. "When you're successful, other opportunities come your way. He believed in hard work and the success was a byproduct of what he was doing.
It wasn't the destination. It was the trip." Bridgeman was a humble man of God who made many charitable contributions, Phillips said.
"He had a good business sense but was still that guy I used to walk to school with," he said. "The Harbor shaped us. It instilled the value of hard work.
He worked at automotive plants during summers at the University of Louisville and I worked at Inland when I was home from Purdue in the summer. You were just expected to do that. It was drilled into you at an early age.
He was taught about hard work, and he was smart. It gives you a leg up." It offers bubble tea in a variety of flavors including green tea, oolong tea, black tea, matcha tea and fresh fruit tea.
The menu also includes rolled ice cream, coffee, frappes, yogurt, fresh milk and milk tea. Ice cream flavors include Nutella, Banana, Oreo, Fruit Lover and Summer Tango. Teas include Strawberry Oolong Tea, Crush Peach Black Tea, Peach Orange Lemongrass Black Tea, Tropical Fruit Green Tea, Tropical Fruit Oolong Tea, Honeydew Green Apple Oolong Tea, Grapefruit Jasmine Green Tea, Navel Orange Jasmine Green Tea, Kiwi Jasmine Green Tea, Happy Tea, Lychee Black Tea and Pomegranate Black Tea.
Owner Bach “Andy” Pham bought the 10,000-square-foot building and opened The Boba Tea Cafe, B Nail Lounge and Viet-Ship. The latter allows people to go into the Boba Tea Cafe and ship money or packages to Vietnam. For more information, call 219-999-7997.
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