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The Most Iconic Detroit Pistons Bench Players (Post-Teal Era)

By Andrew Brewster

CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 20: LeBron James
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 20: LeBron James /
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SAN ANTONIO, UNITED STATES: Tony Parker (R) of the San Antonio Spurs scores against Elden Campbell of the Detroit Pistons during game seven of the NBA Finals 23 June, 2005 at the SBC Center in San Antonio, TX. The best of seven series is tied at 3-3 to force a winner take all game seven. AFP PHOTO/ Robert SULLIVAN (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, UNITED STATES: Tony Parker (R) of the San Antonio Spurs scores against Elden Campbell of the Detroit Pistons during game seven of the NBA Finals 23 June, 2005 at the SBC Center in San Antonio, TX. The best of seven series is tied at 3-3 to force a winner take all game seven. AFP PHOTO/ Robert SULLIVAN (Photo credit should read ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP/Getty Images) /

Elden Campbell – In case you didn’t who Elden Campbell is, he is the man that looks like he’s about to murder Tony Parker in the photo above. Do you need another reason for him to be on the list? Fine, here’s this clip of him bringing the Palace crowd to their feet in the ’04 Finals:

In all seriousness, Elden Campbell was a hell of a journeyman, who had extremely solid years with the Lakers and Hornets early in his career.

As Pistons’ fans, we were very fortunate that he spent most of his last two seasons in the league with the team, backing up Ben Wallace from 2003-’05. During that short stretch, he proved to be an invaluable backup defender.

In the ’04 NBA Finals, many attribute much of Detroit’s success to the defensive work of Elden Campbell. As Ben Wallace was undersized at Center compared to Shaquille O’Neal, Elden had to spend a lot of time on Shaq that series. Then, in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals, Elden Campbell shut Shaq down once again, this time while he was on the Miami Heat.

From the USA Today:

"Campbell played only nine minutes in Game 4, but he was effective in forcing O’Neal away from the basket. O’Neal battled foul troubles and finished with a series-low 12 points. “I’m just using my fouls, because it’s no use taking them home with me,” Campbell said."

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