A pair of Broward County Sheriff’s officers discovered former Lakers star Elden Campbell’s lifeless body next to a jet ski on an empty Florida beach late last year, newly released police video shows.
The footage, which was obtained by The California Post on Monday, was captured on a cop’s body camera after law enforcement had been called to investigate a possible dead body in Pompano Beach on Dec. 1, 2025.
In the video, 911 callers could be seen at around 8 p.m. directing the duo of policemen to a personal watercraft that had washed ashore.
One of the witnesses showed a picture of the scene that they had snapped earlier in the evening to a cop and stated, “It looks like a jet ski and that looks like a person.”
“Yeah,” the officer responded after taking a look at the photo. “Let’s see see what’s going on.”
The officer and his partner then walked to the water, where they found a deceased Campbell laying face down next to a Sea-Doo while wearing a life jacket, a long-sleeved orange shirt and floral board shorts.
The police quickly radioed in the incident, and launched an investigation into the matter.
They noted Campbell’s watercraft had fishing equipment on it, and in the body cam video, officers could be heard speculating that he might have sustained some kind of medical emergency while out in the ocean.
Campbell’s death was later ruled as accidental drowning by the Broward County Medical Examiner.
A Broward County Sheriff’s Office investigation report noted Campbell had suffered from a medical ailment and “there was no indication of trauma at the autopsy.”
Campbell was picked by the Lakers in the first round of the 1990 NBA Draft after starring at Clemson and he went on to play nine seasons in Los Angeles.
In 15 total NBA seasons, he averaged 10.3 points per game and won one NBA championship.
He was 57 years old.
