No. 25 - Phoenix Suns | |||
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Shooting guard | |||
Personal information | |||
Born September 15, 1986 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
Nationality American | |||
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | |||
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg) | |||
Career information | |||
College Temple (2005-2009) | |||
NBA Draft 2009 / Undrafted | |||
Pro career 2009-present (14 years) | |||
Career history | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Dionte Christmas is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. He was undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft although two different teams invited him in the summer league.
Collegiate career[]
In his freshman season in 2005, Dionte Christmas joined the basketball team of Temple University that was led by current professional basketball player Mardy Collins in both points and assists.
Although he only averaged 3.5 points per game at the end of his freshman season, Christmas would average 20.0 points, leading the team, during his sophomore season. This change gave him the Atlantic 10 Most Improved Player award in 2007, along with the All-Atlantic 10 Conference Second Team and All-Philadelphia Big 5 First Team.
Christmas continued his success throughout his junior season, leading his team in points again. He was named to the All-Atlantic 10 Conference First Team and was given the Atlantic 10 Tournament: Most Outstanding Player award during this season. This time, he helped his team win the conference title and an automatic berth to the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
As a possible candidate for the Wooden Award in his senior season, Dionte Christmas and his team upset #8 Tennessee on national television and became the fourth Temple player to score over 2000 points in his career and set school records for most three-pointers made in a single season.
Professional career[]
Christmas first played professionally with Hapoel Afula B.C. of the Israeli Basketball Super League in the 2009-10 season where he averaged 19.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and played 13 games. He was the second-leading scorer in the league only behind former teammate and current LKL (Lithuanian Basketball League) player Justin Dentmon.
For the 2010-11 season, Dionte Christmas was signed by the Turkish basketball club Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K, or Mersin BB, where he averaged 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists.
After playing for ČEZ Nymburk of the Czech National Basketball League in 2011, Christmas again signed with two different Greek teams, PAOK B.C. and Reythmno during the same year
On October 31, 2012, Dionte Christmas joined CSKA Moscow of the Russian Professional Basketball League before being waived in about four months and signing with Montepaschi Siena of the Lega Basket Serie A.
Finally on September of 2013, Christmas signed with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball League after playing with their summer league team in Las Vegas. In his NBA debut, he scored nine points while grabbing four rebounds in a close win against the Utah Jazz.