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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.
Detroit Pistons’ Elden Campbell (41) is in action against Miami Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal (32) in Miami, Florida, on May 25, 2005. (Bill Frakes/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“I am deeply saddened to learn of Elden Campbell’s passing,” 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 major reason we won Clemson’s only ACC regular season championship. He went on to a 15-year career in the NBA and won a World Championship.”
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“But most of all, Elden was an outstanding, giving person. This is a sad day for the Clemson family. Elden loved Clemson, he came back and supported the program after he retired. He exemplified what Clemson was all about.”
Days later, Broward County officials confirmed to People magazine that the 57-year-old former NBA pro died on Monday “due to drowning.” The death was ruled accidental after Campbell reportedly suffered a medical emergency while fishing.
Campbell’s sister, Sandra, told the New York Post that he wasn’t sick at the time of his death.
Elden Campbell (41) of the Los Angeles Lakers takes a foul shot during an NBA basketball game against the Washington Bullets at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, on Nov. 26, 1994. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NBA CHAMPION AND CLEMSON GREAT ELDEN CAMPBELL DEAD AT 57
“It was all the sudden,” she told the outlet. “He wasn’t sick. He was out fishing.”
His family released a statement later confirming that he passed “doing what he loved.”
“Elden was a man of faith who trusted in his Lord and savior Jesus Christ,” the statement read. “Husband, father, brother, cousin and friend. He was a man to whom family meant everything — generous, funny, disciplined and kind, but could shut you down if required. A man of God, he passed doing what he loved: fishing out on the ocean, enjoying his idea of an ideal day.”
Washington Wizards’ Kwame Brown (right) knocks the ball away from Charlotte Hornets’ Elden Campbell (left) in the second half at 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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