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The death of NBA champion and Clemson great Elden Campbell was ruled an accidental drowning after the basketball icon reportedly suffered a medical emergency during a fishing trip.
Campbell’s death was first confirmed by Clemson officials and family members on Tuesday.
Elden Campbell (41) of the Detroit Pistons is in action against Shaquille O’Neal (32) of the Miami Heat in Miami, Florida, on May 25, 2005. (Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Elden Campbell,” Campbell’s head coach at Clemson, Cliff Ellis, said in a statement provided by the university. “Elden was a great player for four years, especially in 1989-90, when he was a big reason we won Clemson’s only ACC regular season championship. He went on to a 15-year NBA career and won a World Championship.”
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“But above all, Elden was an outstanding and generous person. This is a sad day for the Clemson family. Elden loved Clemson, came back and supported the program after he retired. He exemplified what Clemson was all about.”
Days later, Broward County officials confirmed people magazine that the 57-year-old former NBA professional died “drowning” on Monday. The death was ruled accidental after Campbell reportedly suffered a medical emergency while fishing.
Campbell’s sister, Sandra, said The New York Post that he was not ill at the time of his death.
Elden Campbell (41) of the Los Angeles Lakers takes a free throw during an NBA basketball game against the Washington Bullets at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland on November 26, 1994. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
ELDEN CAMPBELL, NBA CHAMPION AND CLEMSON GREAT, DEATH AT AGE 57
“It was all sudden,” he told the outlet. “I wasn’t sick. I was fishing.”
His family later issued a statement confirming that he passed away “doing what he loved.”
“Elden was a man of faith who trusted in his Lord and savior Jesus Christ,” the statement said. “Husband, father, brother, cousin and friend. He was a man to whom family was everything: generous, funny, disciplined and kind, but who could shut you down if necessary. A man of God, he spent doing what he loved: fishing in the ocean, enjoying his idea of an ideal day.”
Kwame Brown (right) of the Washington Wizards strips the ball from Elden Campbell (left) of the Charlotte Hornets in the second half at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 5, 2002. (NELL REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images)
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Campbell played 15 seasons in the NBA, predominantly with the Los Angeles Lakers. He later won a championship with the Detroit Pistons.
He also helped the Tigers win the 1989-90 ACC regular season title and reach the Sweet 16 before being selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft by his hometown Lakers.
