Shaquille O’Neal’s Painful Reaction to Passing of NBA Legend and Dear Friend…

Shaquille O’Neal is not only one of the greatest big men to take the basketball court. He has also done quite well for himself in his post-NBA career, particularly his non-basketball business ventures.

The fact O’Neal’s business portfolio is estimated to be worth more than half a billion dollars is a clear testament to this fact.

O’Neal is adamant, however, that he would not have established his empire had it not been for his mentors. His biggest was NBA legend and billionaire Junior Bridgeman, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 71 due to a heart attack.

O’Neal talked about the death on “NBA on TNT’s” pregame show: The four-time NBA champion expressed how much Bridgeman’s loss hurt.

“This one really hit hard for me,” O’Neal admitted. “A lot of people don’t know this but I’ve patterned my whole business acumen after Junior Bridgeman.

“He was definitely a dear friend. I got the news at home and I had to sit down for a while. I actually forgot that we had to work. That’s why I was kind of running late. … This one hurts a lot.”

O’Neal revealed how Bridgeman was always very open to sharing his best business practices with him and how the latter never gate-keeped. According to the Hall of Fame center, he would not have known where to start had it not been for Bridgeman’s help.

Bridgeman played 12 years in the NBA between 1975 and 1987. He played 10 seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and two years with the Los Angeles Clippers.

After retiring, the East Chicago, Indiana, native invested in food chains and ended up owning more than one hundred Wendy’s and Chili’s restaurants. He also ventured into sports media, became a bottler for Coca-Cola and was a minority owner of the Bucks, among other things.