No Hiding Campbell’s Light Now : Laker bench: The problem with scoring 21 points in the NBA finals is that you have to stay for interviews.

While the media engulfed Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson at interview sessions during much of the NBA finals, Laker rookie swingman Elden Campbell was so bored that he played video games and read newspapers because no one wanted to talk to him.

But there was a crowd of reporters waiting for Campbell after he scored 21 points in 27 minutes as a reserve Wednesday night as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Lakers, 108-101, to win their first NBA title.

But the soft-spoken Campbell could do without the attention.

“That’s the only bad thing . . . about playing well,” Campbell said. “You have to stay longer and do interviews.”

Johnson, who advised him before the game to have a lot of fun, was impressed with Campbell, who put the injury-depleted Lakers in a position to win by hitting nine of 12 shots.

“Elden was sensational,” Johnson said.

With forward James Worthy sidelined because of a sprained left ankle and guard Byron Scott out with a shoulder injury, the Lakers were forced to use reserves who had been unproductive, being outscored by the Bulls’ reserves by an average of 15.2-10.8 in the first four games of the series.

But guard Tony Smith and Campbell helped jump-start the Lakers. Campbell had 13 points in the first half and they took a 49-48 lead at halftime. Campbell scored 10 points in the second quarter, hitting five of six shots, as the Lakers outscored Chicago, 24-21.

“They were doing a lot of double-teaming (in the second quarter), and it just opened up the floor for me,” Campbell said. “And I was flashing to the basket, and it made it easy to put the ball in the hole.”

Campbell impressed Worthy.

“He gave us a big lift tonight,” Worthy said. “He had a lot of energy and that’s what we needed to even have a chance. With Elden’s jumping ability and his shot-blocking ability, he has the ability to to be a factor.”

Campbell wasn’t a factor in the first four games of the series, playing only four minutes in Game 2 and two minutes in Game 3. He didn’t play in the series opener and Game 4.

Although Campbell sat on the bench for most of the season, he emerged in the playoffs. And he hopes to build on it for next season.

“I gained some experience that will probably help me down the line,” Campbell said. “Being in the situation that I was in tonight will help me in the future.

“Losing is going to hurt for a while, but hopefully when I come back next year I can build on this and carry it over and keep up this same level of play. I felt pretty good when I was out there.

“The coaches know what I’m capable of. I don’t think this was any surprise to them.”

Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy wasn’t surprised by Campbell’s big game.

“Elden did a terrific job for us tonight,” Dunleavy said. “He and Tony came in with a lot of energy tonight.

“I’ve felt good about Elden and Tony all year long. Elden started off very slowly because it was difficult for him to play the positions, but as the year went on he became more intelligent as far as what we’re trying to do. He did a nice job for us, and I think he’s going to get better and better.”

Johnson thinks Campbell and Smith, who hit five of six shots and had 12 points, may have gained increased playing time by their performance in the Lakers’ final game.

“They showed the world that they can play tonight,” Johnson said. “They showed Coach Dunleavy that they want some playing time for next year.”

But why did the Lakers wait until the final game of the series to use Campbell? Why didn’t they play him earlier?

“There’s times when you look at Elden,” Dunleavy said. “The last series I went to Elden early trying to get that spark, and it didn’t work out because they were too physical for him. I played him earlier in this series, and it didn’t work out because the matchups didn’t look good.”

Campbell didn’t regret not playing earlier in the series.

“You can’t look back,” he said.

But Laker reserve center Mychal Thompson, who has been one of Campbell’s biggest supporters, thinks it might have been a different series if the Lakers had played Campbell more.

“It came a little bit too late,” Thompson said. “If we could have been using him from Game 1, he could have been using those acrobatic things for us the whole series. This was his type of series, going against the jumpers on their team.

“He’s the best jumping big guy in the game today, along with David Robinson, and as he gains experience he’s going to be one of the top four or five shot-blockers in the game. He’s got the total package. He’s got a great, great future ahead of him.”

And Campbell gave Laker fans a glimpse of the future.