Rakeem Haleek Christmas (born December 1, 1991) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played college basketball for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

for four seasons before being drafted by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

with the 36th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. After being drafted by the Timberwolves, he was traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, who then traded him to the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. He spent two seasons with the Pacers while also playing for their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

team, the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

. He was then waived in the 2017 offseason and went overseas to play for

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL), the

Magnolia Hotshots The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, Inc., a subsidiary of San Migue ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

, and Ormanspor in Turkey.

High school career

Christmas attended

Northeast Catholic High School Northeast Catholic High School opened in 1926 as Northeast Catholic High School for Boys, and was located at 1842 Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was under the administration of the high school system of the Roman Catholic Arch ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

between 2007 and 2009, before his junior year he transferred to Academy of the New Church in

Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census. It was formed for religious reasons fro ...

. 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 Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. He was rated as the #27 player by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

. He was named to the Class A first team as a junior.

College career

Christmas committed to Syracuse

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

College statistics

College career highs

* Blocks: 6 against Loyola (11/25/14) * Rebounds: 16 against

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

(11/16/14) * Points: 35 against Wake Forest (01/13/15)

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (2015–2017)

On June 25, 2015, Christmas was selected by the

with the 36th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. His rights were then traded to the

along with those of Cedi Osman and a future second-round pick in exchange for the rights of

Tyus Jones Tyus Robert Jones Sr. (born May 10, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for his hometown team the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 seasons ...

. He later joined the Cavaliers for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League a ...

, 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

in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick. Four days later, he signed with the Pacers. Christmas spent the majority of the 2015–16 season on assignment in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

with the

. On January 29, 2016, he was named in the East All-Star team for the 2016

NBA D-League All-Star Game The NBA D-League All-Star Game was an annual exhibition basketball game held by the NBA Development League (D-League). The D-League was founded in 2001 as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and later as the NBA Development League. ...

. 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 The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. He spent more time with the Pacers in 2016–17, appearing in 29 games, but still received multiple assignments to Fort Wayne. On July 7, 2017, Christmas was waived by the Pacers.

Galatasaray (2017)

On August 17, 2017, Christmas signed with Turkish club

for the 2017–18 season. On November 11, 2017, he parted ways with Galatasaray.

New Zealand Breakers (2018)

On January 8, 2018, Christmas signed with the

for the rest of the 2017–18 NBL season. 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

had added Christmas to their roster.

Ormanspor (2019–2020)

On August 21, 2019,

OGM Ormanspor OGM Ormanspor is a Turkish professional basketball club based in Ankara. Currently, the team plays in the Turkish Basketball First League. Established in 1971, the team played in the lower divisions of Turkish basketball for decades. In 2019, Orma ...

announced that they had added Christmas to their roster.

Yulon Dinosours (2020–2021)

On November 3, 2020,

Yulon Luxgen Dinos The Yulon Luxgen Dinos are a basketball team in the Super Basketball League in Taiwan. It was founded in 1965 by Yulon Motor's (or the Taiwanese Car Manufacturer Luxgen) Chairman as a First Division amateur basketball team. It has also been membe ...

announced that they had added Christmas to their roster.

Cangrejeros de Santurce (2022–present)

On January 1, 2022, Christmas signed with the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the BSN.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

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, 29 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .442 , , .000 , , .724 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .2 , , 2.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 30 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .467, , .000 , , .724 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .2 , , 2.1

Personal life

Christmas and his mother Landra Hamid moved to

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincor ...

when he was 2 years old. While he lived in the Virgin Islands, his mother died due to

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

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

to live with his aunt, Amira Hamid, who became his legal guardian. Christmas was initiated as an honorary member of the

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdo ...

fraternity during his sophomore year at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. Christmas is thought to be the first player in Syracuse men's basketball history to finish his undergraduate degree in 3 years. Christmas is married to Jasmine Jordan, the daughter of

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

. Their son, Rakeem Michael Christmas, was born in May 2019.

References

External links

Syracuse Orange bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christmas, Rakeem 1991 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey Basketball players from Philadelphia Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Indiana Pacers players Magnolia Hotshots players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks New Zealand Breakers players People from Irvington, New Jersey Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Yulon Luxgen Dinos players Super Basketball League imports Cangrejeros de Santurce basketball players Cocodrilos de Caracas players American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela