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 (appro ...

player for the Amartha Hangtuah of the

Indonesian Basketball League The Indonesia Basketball League (IBL; ) is the preeminent men's professional basketball league in Indonesia, founded by Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) in 2003. From 2010 to 2015 it was known as the National Basketball League (NBL) ...

(IBL). He played college basketball for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the college athletics in the United States, 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 ...

for four seasons before being drafted by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. 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 a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

team, the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Noblesville Boom are an American professional basketball team based in Noblesville, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Boom are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2025, they have played their home games at ...

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

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL), the Magnolia Hotshots 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 Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

, 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 East Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was under the administration of the high school system of the Roman Catho ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

between 2007 and 2009, before his junior year he transferred to Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. 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. He was rated as the #27 player by Rivals.com. 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 (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. He later joined the Cavaliers for the

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three professional sports, pro basketball sports league, leagues organized by the National Basketball Association, NBA: the Orlando Magic, Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas S ...

, 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 ( Eric Paschall) Indiana acquired for Roy Hibbert. 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 a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

with the

. On January 29, 2016, he was named in the East All-Star team for the 2016 NBA D-League All-Star Game. 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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. 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 Galatasaray 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 Magnolia Hotshots had added Christmas to their roster.

Ormanspor (2019–2020)

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

Yulon Dinosours (2020–2021)

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

Cangrejeros de Santurce (2022)

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

Santos del Potosí (2023)

On August 5, 2023, Santos del Potosí announced that they had added Christmas to their roster. Christmas was waived by Santos del Potosí on November 3, 2023

Amartha Hangtuah (2024–present)

In December 2024, Christmas joined the Amartha Hangtuah of the

(IBL).

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 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 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 renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), 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 fa ...

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 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 Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded at New York University in 1913. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Israel ...

fraternity during his sophomore year at Syracuse. Christmas is thought to be the first player in Syracuse men's basketball history to finish his undergraduate degree in 3 years. Christmas was 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, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. Their son, Rakeem Michael Christmas, was born in May 2019. He welcomed his second child in 2024 with his girlfriend.

References

External links