Elden Campbell: 1968-2025

Cover photo: Elden Campbell, with the Los Angeles Lakers, battles for a rebound against the Houston Rockets’ Hakeem Olajuwon. Photo credit: David J. Phillip, Associated Press.

NBA veteran Elden Campbell passed away on Dec. 2 at age 57. 

A native of Inglewood, Calif., Campbell attended Morningside High School, a school that also produced WNBA legends Lisa Leslie and Tina Thompson as well as former Los Angeles Laker Byron Scott. 

Campbell was 2-time All-ACC at the University of Clemson, where he averaged 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in 123 career games. He led the ACC in blocks per game three times - 3.1 as a sophomore, 3.0 as a junior, and 2.8 as a senior. 

In the 1990 NBA Draft, Campbell was taken 27th overall by his hometown Lakers. He played 618 games with the team from 1990-99, averaging a career-best 2.6 blocks (13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds) in 1995-96 and career-high 14.9 points (8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks) in 1996-97. In March of 1999, Campbell was part of a large deal to the Charlotte Hornets, where he went alongside guard Eddie Jones in exchange for forwards Glen Rice and J.R. Reid and guard BJ Armstrong. In his 32 games with the Hornets in 1999, Campbell posted 15.3 points and 9.4 rebounds, getting 11.4 shots and 35.4 minutes per game in those remaining games with the Hornets versus the 19.1 minutes per game that he received in his first 17 games that season with the Lakers. 

Campbell stayed with the Hornets until 41 games into the 2002-03 season, at which point he was dealt to the Seattle SuperSonics. In 2003-04, he played 65 games (27 starts, 13.7 minutes per game) with the Detroit Pistons, who went on to win the NBA Finals that June. Campbell in the 2004-05 season played 30 games with the Pistons and 10 with the New Jersey Nets. In 15 NBA seasons, Campbell played 1,044 games, starting 671 in 24.7 minutes per game. His averages were 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. His most productive years were in Charlotte, where he averaged 13.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 30.8 minutes per game in 261 starts out of 265 games. 

The 7 foot Campbell will be remembered to me as a reliable center who was a staple on the Lakers during the 1990s and then on the Hornets’ teams of the early 2000s that had Baron Davis running point. 

RIP, Elden Campbell.