Former basketball player Elden Campbell died Monday from drowning after suffering a medical emergency while out fishing, a member of his family and a Broward County official told media outlets.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said Campbell’s death was accidental, according to TMZ, and Thomas Steinkamp, the chief of investigative services for Broward County, confirmed to People that it was due to drowning.
Campbell’s sister, Sandra, told The New York Post that the medical emergency occurred “all the sudden” when Campbell, 57, had returned to shore after fishing in Florida and that the family doesn’t know what happened.
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Campbell is the all-time leading scorer for Clemson with 1,880 points. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s and won an NBA title with the Detroit Pistons.
Clemson had announced Campbell’s death earlier this week without providing details.
He was a three-time All-ACC selection from 1986 to 1990, making three NCAA tournaments with the Tigers. As a senior, Campbell helped lead Clemson to its only regular-season ACC title ahead of a run to the Sweet 16, where it lost to UConn on a buzzer-beater.
Campbell, nicknamed “Big Easy,” also ranks second in career blocks (334) and eighth in rebounds (836) for Clemson, among other accolades.
Selected in the first round by the Lakers in 1990, Campbell would go on to play nine seasons in Los Angeles before he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in 1999. He would also play for Seattle, New Jersey and Detroit, winning an NBA title with the Pistons in 2003-04 before his career ended the following year.
In 1,044 career games over 15 NBA seasons, Campbell averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds.
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