"This one hurts a lot" - Shaquille O'Neal pays heartfelt tribute to Junior Bridgeman for inspiring his business empire

Shaquille O'Neal and the rest of the NBA family mourned the death of Milwaukee Bucks legend Junior Bridgeman on Tuesday. Bridgeman reportedly died after a medical emergency at an event in Louisville, Kentucky. Shaq paid tribute to his mentor, who's one of four NBA player-turned billionaires.

On Tuesday's episode of Inside the NBA, O'Neal shared a heartfelt message for Bridgeman and his family. He credited the former player for helping him become a successful businessman. Bridgeman has an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.

"This one really hit hard for me," O'Neal said. "A lot of people don't know this, but I've patterned my whole business acumen after Junior Bridgeman. ... He was somebody that I looked up to. I know I get a lot of credit, but if it wasn't for Bridgeman, I wouldn't have known where to start.

The four-time NBA champion added:

"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, but this one hits hard. ... This one hurts a lot."

Junior Bridgeman made $350,000 in his NBA career, spending eight seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. He also spent two years with the LA Clippers and was drafted by the LA Lakers. He was a part of the package deal sent to the Bucks in the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trade.

After his career as a pro basketball player, Bridgeman became a businessman and invested in fast food restaurants. He reportedly owned over 500 franchises in 2015 before selling most of it the next year for an estimated $250 million. He then bought the Heartland Coca-Cola bottling company and turned into a billionaire earlier this year.

Junior Bridgeman joined Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Magic Johnson as the only NBA players to have a net worth of over $1 billion. Shaquille O'Neal, who's following Bridgeman's formula, has an estimated net worth of $500 million.

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Apart from Shaquille O'Neal, more players looked up Junior Bridgeman

Apart from Shaquille O'Neal, former NBA players like LeBron James and Isiah Thomas looked up to Junior Bridgeman to help their business strategies. James told Forbes in February how influential the Milwaukee Bucks legend was to his entrepreneurial career.

"He didn’t waste his time just thinking about the game of basketball," James said.

"He's always had a business mindset. Obviously, he loved the game because he got to (the NBA). But then he used all the resources, outlets, the connections to his advantage and he's built an unbelievable portfolio."

Thomas, meanwhile, described Bridgeman as "legendary" and called him the real success story of the NBA. Unlike Jordan, LeBron and Magic, Bridgeman didn't have the fame to make himself a brand. He had to go through it all to become successful through hard work and perseverance.