Rakeem Haleek Christmas[1] (born December 1, 1991) is an American professional basketball player. 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.
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 Syracusebasketball 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]
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 (Eric Paschall) Indiana acquired for Roy Hibbert.[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]
On August 5, 2023, Santos del Potosí announced that they had added Christmas to their roster.[30] Christmas was waived by Santos del Potosí on November 3, 2023 [31]
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.[32]
Christmas was initiated as an honorary member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity during his sophomore year at Syracuse University.[33] Christmas is thought to be the first player in Syracuse men's basketball history to finish his undergraduate degree in 3 years.[34]
Christmas was married to Jasmine Jordan, the daughter of Michael Jordan.[35][36] Their son, Rakeem Michael Christmas, was born in May 2019.[37]
He welcomed his second child in 2024 with his girlfriend.
