Rakeem Christmas

Rakeem Haleek Christmas[1] (born December 1, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Yulon Luxgen Dinos of the Super Basketball League (SBL). He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange for four seasons before being drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 36th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.

Rakeem Christmas
Christmas with Syracuse in 2013
No. 25 – Yulon Luxgen Dinos
PositionPower forward
LeagueSBL
Personal information
Born (1991-12-01) December 1, 1991
Irvington, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High schoolAcademy of the New Church
(Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania)
CollegeSyracuse (2011–2015)
NBA draft2015 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Playing career2015–present
Career history
2015–2017Indiana Pacers
2015–2017→Fort Wayne Mad Ants
2017Galatasaray
2018New Zealand Breakers
2019Magnolia Hotshots
2019–2020Ormanspor
2020–Yulon Luxgen Dinos
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

After being drafted by the Timberwolves, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers who then traded him to the Indiana Pacers. He spent two seasons with the Pacers while also playing for their NBA G League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He was then waived in the 2017 offseason and went overseas to play for Galatasaray in Turkey, the New Zealand Breakers of the National Basketball League (NBL), the Magnolia Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association, and Ormanspor in Turkey.

High school career

Christmas attended Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 2007 and 2009, before his junior year he transferred to Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.[2][3] As a junior, he averaged 13.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game. During his senior season, he averaged 11.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks per game.

He was rated as the #21 player in the class of 2011 by Scout.com.[4] He was rated as the #27 player by Rivals.com.[5] He was named to the Class A first team as a junior.[6]

College career

Christmas committed to Syracuse basketball on August 6, 2010 after his junior season in high school.[7] He started playing for Syracuse in the 2011–12 season and contributed all four seasons that he was with the team.[8]

College statistics
YearGP-GSMPGPPGFG%RPGAPGTPGSPGBPG
2011–1237-3511.52.857.3%2.90.20.60.30.8
2012–1340-4020.85.153.0%4.60.20.90.51.8
2013–1434-3423.65.861.3%5.10.70.80.51.9
2014–1531-3134.317.555.2%9.11.52.50.92.5

College career highs

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2015–2017)

On June 25, 2015, Christmas was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 36th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.[12] His rights were then traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with those of Cedi Osman and a future second-round pick in exchange for the rights of Tyus Jones.[13] He later joined the Cavaliers for the 2015 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in four games. On July 23, 2015, his rights were traded again, this time to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick.[14] Four days later, he signed with the Pacers.[15] Christmas spent the majority of the 2015–16 season on assignment in the NBA Development League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.[16] On January 29, 2016, he was named in the East All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game.[17] In the Pacers' 2015–16 regular season finale, Christmas made his NBA debut, scoring four points and making both his field-goal tries off the bench in a 97–92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.[18] He spent more time with the Pacers in 2016–17, appearing in 29 games, but still received multiple assignments to Fort Wayne.[19][20]

On July 7, 2017, Christmas was waived by the Pacers.[21]

Galatasaray (2017)

On August 17, 2017, Christmas signed with Turkish club Galatasaray for the 2017–18 season.[22] On November 11, 2017, he parted ways with Galatasaray.[23]

New Zealand Breakers (2018)

On January 8, 2018, Christmas signed with the New Zealand Breakers for the rest of the 2017–18 NBL season.[24][25][26] In 12 games, he averaged 7.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Magnolia Hotshots (2019)

On July 18, 2019, it was reported that Magnolia Hotshots had added Christmas to their roster.[27]

Ormanspor (2019–2020)

On August 21, 2019, OGM Ormanspor announced that they had added Christmas to their roster.[28]

Yulon Dinosours (2020-present)

On November 3, 2020, Yulon Luxgen Dinos announced that they had added Christmas to their roster.

NBA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 Indiana 106.01.000.000.0001.0.0.0.04.0
2016–17 Indiana 2907.6.442.000.7241.9.1.1.22.0
Career 3007.5.467.000.7241.9.1.1.22.1

Personal life

Christmas and his mother Landra Hamid moved to St. Croix when he was 2 years old. While he lived in the Virgin Islands, his mother died due to kidney failure at the age of 28. After his mother died, he remained in St. Croix and was raised there by his grandmother, Evelyn Hamid. When he was 13 years old he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to live with his aunt, Amira Hamid, who became his legal guardian.[29]

Christmas was initiated as an honorary member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity during his sophomore year at Syracuse University.[30] Christmas is thought to be the first player in Syracuse men's basketball history to finish his undergraduate degree in 3 years.[31]

Christmas' partner is Jasmine Jordan, the daughter of Michael Jordan.[32] Their son was born in May 2019.[33]

References
  1. "Rakeem Christmas Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. Pelegrin, Pete. "No. 3-ranked Hoopster in U.S. Eyeing FIU". Miami Herald. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  3. "Academy of the New Church Builds Powerful Frontcourt". MaxPreps.com. August 13, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  4. "Scout.com: Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  5. "Yahoo Sports: Rivals.com Ranking - Rivals150 for the class of 2011". Rivals.yahoo.com. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  6. Express-Times staff and wire (April 7, 2010). "Liberty High School's Darrun Hilliard named first team all-state; Chad Landis is Class AAAA co-coach of the year". The Express-Times. Retrieved December 23, 2014.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  7. Rankin, Reggie (August 6, 2010). "Rakeem Christmas commits to Syracuse". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  8. "Syracuse University Athletics – Rakeem Christmas". Cuse.com. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  9. Carlson, Chris. "Loyola coach G.G. Smith on Rakeem Christmas' six-block night: 'He really killed us'". syracuse.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  10. Waters, Mike. "Syracuse basketball center Rakeem Christmas bounces back, returns to big role in win over Iowa". syracuse.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  11. Waters, Mike. "Rakeem Christmas' 35 points vs. Wake Forest were most for Syracuse center in Jim Boeheim era". syracuse.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  12. "2015 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  13. "Cavaliers Acquire Draft Rights to Cedi Osman and Rakeem Christmas from Minnesota". NBA.com. June 25, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  14. "Pacers Acquire Rakeem Christmas From Cleveland in Exchange for Draft Pick". NBA.com. July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
  15. "Pacers Re-Sign Whittington and Sign Christmas and Robinson". NBA.com. July 27, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  16. "All-Time NBA Assignments". NBA.com. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  17. "Sixteen NBA Veterans Headline Rosters for NBA Development League All-Star Game Presented By Kumho Tire". NBA.com. January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  18. Armas, Genaro C. (April 13, 2016). "Solomon Hill scores 25, Pacers beat Bucks 97-92". NBA.com. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  19. "2016-17 NBA Assignments". NBA.com. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  20. Agness, Scott (July 6, 2017). "Sources: Pacers will waive Rakeem Christmas". vigilantsports.com. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  21. "Pacers Waive Rakeem Christmas". NBA.com. July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  22. "Galatasaray puts Christmas in the frontcourt". Eurocupbasketball.com. August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  23. "Galatasaray parting ways with Rakeem Christmas, GM says". Sportando.com. November 11, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  24. "Breakers Sign Former NBA Big Man Rakeem Christmas". NBL.com.au. January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  25. France, Marvin (January 8, 2018). "Christmas comes for Breakers as former NBA centre signed". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  26. France, Marvin (January 9, 2018). "Ex-NBA player Rakeem Christmas just wants to fit in at Breakers". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  27. "Rakeem Christmas (ex Arecibo) is a newcomer at Hotshots". asia-basket.com. July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  28. "RAKEEM CHRISTMAS OGM ORMANSPOR'DA". OGM Ormanspor on Twitter.com (in Turkish). August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  29. Quinn, Brendan F. (December 15, 2008). "Christmas Comes Early At North Catholic". PhillyHoops.Wordress.com. Retrieved August 26, 2010.
  30. "Rakeem Christmas Joins Syracuse AEPi". BarStoolSports.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2013.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  31. Waters, Mike (May 6, 2014). "Syracuse basketball's Rakeem Christmas earns degree in just three years". Syracuse.com. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  32. France, Marvin (January 14, 2018). "From island life to the NBA - Rakeem Christmas' remarkable hoops journey". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  33. Herbert, Geoff (May 18, 2019). "Rakeem Christmas welcomes baby, making Michael Jordan a grandfather". syracuse.com. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
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