Former Detroit Pistons center and NBA champion Elden Campbell died suddenly on Monday at the age of 57, and the cause of death has been revealed.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said Campbell’s death was accidental, per TMZ, and his sister, Sandra, told The New York Post he suffered a medical emergency while out fishing and drowned.
Campbell had been out on a fishing trip with his family in Florida on Monday and upon making it back to land suffered some kind of medical emergency. Sandra didn’t want to speculate on what caused the situation with his body currently with the medical examiner in hopes of learning more details about what happened in the days to come.
He was pronounced deceased at 8:03 p.m. on December 1.
Campbell, originally from Inglewood, California, spent most of his 15-year career with his childhood favorite team, the Los Angeles Lakers, after the 6-foot-11 center was drafted out of Clemson with the 27th overall pick in 1990.
He joined the Pistons in 2003, playing the majority of his final two seasons in Detroit. In his first year, Campbell quickly became a key part of the roster, particularly for his defense.
Campbell was integral in the Pistons winning the 2004 NBA Championship, serving as a primary defender for the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal in the finals series.
“He was such a gentle soul,” ex-Lakers teammate Magic Johnson said in a post earlier this week on X. “As a basketball player, he was extremely athletic. I loved throwing lobs to Elden because he could jump out the gym and had so much talent…Rest in peace Big E!”
After spending his first eight-and-a-half seasons with the Lakers, Campbell was traded to the Charlotte Hornets and posted career numbers as he averaged 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in four seasons, covering 265 games as a full-time starter. In total, Campbell played 1,044 games and 106 playoff games for his career.
He played 119 of those games in a Pistons uniform and while averaging just five points per game, Campbell played a crucial role in bringing the most recent Pistons championship to Detroit. He retired after the 2005 postseason.
Campbell was inducted into the SoCal Basketball Hall of Fame this year and still remains Clemson’s all-time leading scorer from his time there from 1986-1990.