Milwaukee Bucks Honor Junior Bridgeman With A Jersey Patch And Tribute Video

The Milwaukee Bucks honored Junior Bridgeman on Thursday upon their return to Fiserv Forum, recognizing the franchise legend who passed away suddenly Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky, at the age of 71. Bridgeman was just months into his minority ownership of the franchise he played 10 seasons for.

The team affixed a black patch with “Bridgeman” in white lettering on the left shoulder of its jersey for the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and all of their uniforms will have the patch through the rest of the 2024-25 season.

Before the game, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said he told the team about Bridgeman's passing on the plane home from Indianapolis on Tuesday night. Rivers reiterated how special Bridgeman's entrepreneurial story was in building a multi-million dollar business through fast food chains, and then shared a conversation he had with former Bucks guard Quinn Buckner.

"So an amazing story about Junior," Rivers began, "(Buckner) asked Junior why he wanted to get into fast food. 'Cause back then, 'why fast food?' Why fast food?' He said that he talked about it on the planes all the time and he said because I can employ people in my community. It's funny, it's just who Junior was. He becomes a billionaire but he wasn't doing it to become one. Obviously he wanted to do well but he was really doing it, he wanted to own a business where he thought he could affect the community that he grew up in. And obviously he did that."

A moment of silence was held before the Bucks tipped off against the Los Angeles Lakers, and then the organization played a video tribute on the scoreboard during the first time out in the first quarter. With Bridgeman's retired No. 2 in the rafters alit, the video tribute highlighted his playing career – along with his role in helping NBA players achieve true unrestricted free agency in 1988 as the player’s association president.

Bridgeman, along with several other players, sued the NBA in December, 1987 for violating anti-trust laws by requiring teams to receive compensation if a player were to sign with another team.

More: 'He set the standard': Basketball world reacts to death of Milwaukee Bucks legend Junior Bridgeman

By May of 1988, truly unrestricted free agency for veteran players was worked into a new collective bargaining agreement.

"He was just very influential – that may be the biggest piece of all for the players," said Rivers, who played in the league in that era. "We talk about how he served the community by having all these fast food chains, he also served as a player and created a windfall for everyone. Other than me, I wasn't good enough. But really, what he did, that's a very risky time for his career. He wasn't, you could make the case, a star, and yet he stood up anyway. He's a special dude."

Bridgeman, who retired from the game after the 1986-87 season, had his number retired by the Bucks in the 1988 season.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks honor Junior Bridgeman with a jersey patch and tribute video