Dionte Christmas

Dionte Christmas
Dionte Christmas
Born	September 15, 1986 (age 40); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player (retired)
Years active	2009–2018
Known for	Basketball career in NBA and international leagues

Dionte Lamont Christmas (born September 15, 1986) is a retired American professional basketball athlete who most recently competed with Ciclista Olímpico in the Liga Nacional de Básquet. His collegiate basketball career was spent at Temple.

High school career

Christmas attended Samuel S. Fels High School located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his junior year (2002–03), he posted an average of 17.7 points per game, which earned him honorable mention all-Public recognition. In his senior season (2003–04), he elevated his scoring to 26.5 points per contest and was selected for first team all-Public League as well as third team all-City honors.

After graduating from Samuel Fels, Christmas completed a postgraduate year at Lutheran Christian Academy (2004–05). There, he was ranked among the nation's Top 40 prep players by Hoop Scoop after averaging 18 points per game and guiding his squad to a 35–3 record. Additionally, he received all-tournament accolades at the 2005 National Prep Invitational hosted by the University of Rhode Island.

Collegiate career

In his initial year at Temple, Christmas participated in all 32 games and made one start in the final matchup against Akron. He averaged 3.5 points per game, ranking sixth on the roster and leading all bench players in scoring.

During his sophomore campaign, he started in 29 out of 30 games and garnered second team All-District and All-Atlantic 10 distinctions. He was also honored as the Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player. His achievements included first team All-Philadelphia Big 5 and Big 5 Most Improved Player awards, leading the city league both in free throw percentage and scoring. His averages that season were 20.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

In his junior year, Christmas started every one of the 34 games and averaged 37.2 minutes on the court per contest. He earned the title of Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player and was named to the first team All-Atlantic 10 and Big 5 squads. Furthermore, he received USBWA first team All-District and NABC second team All-District honors. Notably, he became only the third player to secure consecutive Atlantic 10 scoring titles with an average of 19.7 points per game while also contributing 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals.

His senior season saw him again receive first team All-Atlantic 10 honors along with being named Atlantic 10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player for a second time. Over the course of 34 games, he averaged 19.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.5 steals each game.

Christmas concluded his tenure at Temple with a total of 2,043 points scored, becoming just the fourth player in school history to exceed the 2,000-point milestone. He set school records for three-pointers made both in a single season (107) and across his career (317). Additionally, he ranks within Temple's top ten for three-point attempts and shooting percentage from beyond the arc. He is distinguished as the first athlete to lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring for three straight seasons.

College statistics

Season Averages
Season	Team	G	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	3P%	FT%	MIN
2005–06	Temple	32	3.5	1.6	0.5	0.5	0.2	.281	.250	.587	11.3
2006–07	Temple	30	20.0	4.2	2.1	1.4	0.4	.466	.400	.871	34.3
2007–08	Temple	34	19.7	5.9	2.5	1.4	0.2	.439	.369	.772	37.2
2008–09	Temple	34	19.5	5.8	2.9	1.5	0.1	.414	.352	.753	35.0
Totals:		130	15.7	4.4	2.0	1.2	0.2	.425	.360	.777	29.6

2009–10 season

Following the 2009 NBA draft where he went unselected, Christmas participated in the Orlando Summer League with a combined Philadelphia 76ers/New Jersey Nets squad, and later competed in the Las Vegas Summer League representing the Los Angeles Clippers. He inked a contract with the 76ers on September 28, 2009, but was released less than a month later on October 21, 2009.

On January 4, 2010, Christmas signed to play out the season with Hapoel Afula in the Israeli Basketball Super League.

2010–11 season

Christmas took part in the Sacramento Kings' NBA Summer League team in July 2010. Subsequently, on August 4, he secured a contract with Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. in Turkey for the 2010–11 campaign; however, their association ended on January 28, 2011.

Shortly after, on February 15, he joined ČEZ Basketball Nymburk competing in the Czech Republic's National Basketball League. By April, Christmas moved to Greece to finish the season with P.A.O.K. B.C.

2011–12 season

On October 18, 2011, Christmas committed to Rethymno Aegean B.C. in Greece for the entirety of the 2011–12 season. During his tenure there, he averaged 18.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.6 steals across 26 games.

2012–13 season

In July 2012, Christmas took part in the Boston Celtics' NBA Summer League and subsequently signed with them on July 31. He was waived by the Celtics on October 16.

Later that month, on October 31, he signed with CSKA Moscow in Russia for that season but was released on February 21, 2013. On April 10, he joined Montepaschi Siena in Italy to conclude the season.

2013–14 season

During July 2013, Christmas played for the Utah Jazz in Orlando Summer League and then for the Phoenix Suns at the Las Vegas Summer League. He signed with Phoenix on September 13, 2013. Christmas made his NBA debut on November 1, scoring nine points and securing four rebounds in an 87–84 victory over his former Summer League team, Utah Jazz.

2014–15 season

Christmas returned to participate with the Phoenix Suns during the 2014 NBA Summer League but was waived by July 24. On September 26, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans but was waived shortly after on October 17. On November 12, he agreed to terms with Paris-Levallois to play out the remainder of the LNB Pro A’s 2014–15 season.

2015–16 season

On October 10, 2015, Christmas signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers but was waived on October 23 following four preseason appearances. He then joined Hapoel Holon of Israel’s Premier League on December 1 but was released by January 7, 2016 to sign with AEK Athens for the rest of their season. After participating in four games with AEK, they parted ways on February 9. Later that month, on March 27, Christmas signed with Torku Konyaspor in Turkey to complete the remainder of the Turkish Basketball Super League’s 2015–16 season.

2016–17 season

Christmas signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on October 24, 2016 but was waived within hours. Five days later he joined their affiliate team, the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League. Unfortunately, on February 7, 2017 he suffered a ruptured right Achilles tendon which ended his season; he was waived immediately following this injury. Over his stint with Delaware across 31 games, he averaged 14.9 points, along with contributions of 3.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while averaging over half an hour per contest.

2017–18 season

On January 25, 2018, Christmas joined Ciclista Olímpico, competing in the Liga Nacional de Básquet.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 31 || 0 || 6.4 || .355 || .290 || .750 || 1.2 || .3 || .1 || .1 || 2.3 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Overall | 31 || 0 || 6.4 || .355 || .290 || .750 || 1.2 || .3 || .1 || .1 || 2.3

EuroLeague

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"| CSKA Moscow | 13 || 6 || 15.2 || .483 || .556 || .727 || 1.1 || .7 || .4 || .1 || 6.5 || 4.2 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Overall | 13 || 6 || 15.2 || .483 || .556 || .727 || 1.1 || .7 || .4 || .1 || 6.5 || 4.2

External links