of Louisville — where he led the Cardinals to a third-place finish in the 1975 NCAA championship tournament. To his credit, Junior was shown on the Dean's List during all four years of his college career, while still graduating a consensus Ail-American in basketball. Junior was the first-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975. He came to Milwaukee as part of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trade from Los Angeles on June 16,1975. During the 1977-78 regular season, J. B. led a talented young Milwaukee bench with a 13.6 average. In three games he started, he averaged sixteen points and five rebounds in a little over forty minutes. Following the All-Star break, Bridgeman averaged 15.5 points while shooting .537 — which boosted his season average from .481 to .503. Brother Bridgeman led his team in scoring in nine games and in rebounding in three. He scored in excess of twenty points on twenty-two occasions, twenty-one of those while coming off the bench. As a measure of his value, note that the Bucks posted a 15-7 wonloss record for those games when Junior contributed more than twenty. Last season was also Brother Bridgeman's second straight year as one of the Bucks' "ironmen." Junior has now appeared in 186 consecutive regular season games and a total of 198 straight, counting playoff appearances. Since turning professional, he has appeared in 245 of 246 career games. Converted to a guard from the forward position in order to utilize his height (officially listed at 6'5") and jumping ability, Bridgeman has taken full advantage of the shift. In his short, three-year career with the Milwaukee franchise, he has scored 2,997 points and is already eighth on the Bucks' alltime scoring list. The 1978 NBA playoffs saw Milwaukee struggling against Phoenix, but the Bucks' sixth man came alive against Denver. Bridgeman shot .500 against the Nuggets and averaged twelve points in twenty minutes off the bench. Junior shot 11 of 14 and scored twenty-two points in the third game against Denver to lead the Bucks super fourth-quarter surge. In fact, during the first three games against Denver, J. B. averaged eighteen points and shot an incredible .650 from the field. He finished the series with an average of 10.4 points per game, shooting .484 from the field. A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Brother Bridgeman is married and he and his wife, Doris, are expecting a The Sphinx / Summer 1979
Brother Junior Bridgeman has moved from honor student and Ail-American in college pro standout and successful businessman. Below, Junior is shown in action. child this spring. Moving onward and upward, Junior is now working on a law degree at the University of Wisconsin at Madison during the off-season. For his teammates, Junior is a leader both on and off the court — serving as the Bucks' player-representative in the NBA Player's Association. Brother Bridgeman crossed the "burning sands," June 10, 1978, at Delta Chi Lambda Chapter in Milwaukee along with six other outstanding Brothers. Since that time he has been extremely active in working with the chapter's Youth Development Committee and its Long-Range Planning Committee. Brother Bridgeman is truly an Alpha Man on the move who is committed to creating positive images for young people and furthering the aims of Alpha Phi Alpha. Richard E. Williams 21