Former Lakers Center Passes Away at Age 57

A former 1990s-era Los Angeles Lakers big man has died far too young.

Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times reports that ex-NBA center Elden Campbell has passed away, of unknown causes, at age 57.

A 6-foot-11 big man out of Clemson, Campbell was was selected with the No. 27 overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by Hall of Fame Los Angeles general manager (and former Hall of Fame Los Aggeles guard) Jerry West.

An alum of Inglewood's Morningside High School, Campbell would go on to spend parts of nine seasons with his hometown franchise.

He played on, yes, the 1990-91 Lakers squad that fell to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant's Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals — alongside Magic Johnson. He also lasted long enough in town to play next to Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones as well as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but wound up being part of the trade (along with Jones) that brought in Glen Rice, B.J. Armstrong and J.R. Reid from the Charlotte Hornets late into the 1998-99 season.

Lakers Thrived Post-Campbell

The next year, with ex-Bulls championship head coach Phil Jackson freshly installed on the bench for big bucks, the O'Neal/Bryant Lakers won their first of three consecutive titles. Neither Reid nor Armstrong were still on the roster by then.

But Campbell would enact his revenge years later, when his Detroit Pistons ended the O'Neal/Bryant era in Los Angeles permanently by besting that dynamic duo in a brutal five-game Finals massacre. Admittedly, Campbell at this point was a Pistons reserve averaging just 8.8 minutes a game in the playoffs.

Beyond Los Angeles, Charlotte/New Orleans and Detroit, Campbell also suited up for the Seattle SuperSonics and the then-New Jersey Nets across a workmanlike 15-year pro career, finally hanging it up after his Pistons fell to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2005 NBA Finals.

Across his 618 regular season contests with the Lakers (381 starts), Campbell averaged 10.4 points on 46.7 percent shooting from the field and 67.9 percent shooting from the foul line, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.1 assists and 0.7 steals a night. Cumulatively, Campbell appeared in 1,044 regular season bouts, averaging 10.3 points and 5.9 boards per.