Dionte Christmas waited, but his name wasn’t one of the 60 that were called at tonight’s NBA draft in New York City.
The senior guard, who averaged 19.5 points per game on his way to a record third consecutive Atlantic Ten Conference scoring title, spent the night at his home in Philadelphia with 30 of his closest friends and family members.
“I wasn’t expecting my name to be called,” Christmas said. “I thought if I heard it in the first round or even later that it would be a blessing. I think it’s worse for my family, though. They wanted to hear my name now.”
Christmas said his agent, Andre Buck, already knows of a few teams – the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies – that are interested in him.
“Hopefully by tomorrow, I’ll be signed and picked up by a team,” he said. “I don’t have any preferences, I just want to be on a team and in the NBA.”
Former Temple Owls Lynn Greer and Mardy Collins and current Temple men’s basketball coach Fran Dunphy texted Christmas after the draft and told him to “keep his head up.”
“My dad was real upset,” Christmas said. “But I told him I’ve been the underdog my whole career. It’s going to motivate me in the proper way. I can’t go nowhere but up.”
Sixers Assistant GM Tony Dileo just said on ESPN950 that the Sixers are interested in Dionte Christmas as well,and would like him to be on their summer league team.Since Christmas went undrafted,he is free to pick which team he prefers,and I would assume that he would prefer playing for his hometown team.With only Willie Green to beat out who stinks,Dionte Christmas would definitely make the Sixers roster.
Its amazing how much liquid a snow globe has. And amazing how long it takes to clean up liquid Christmas from your living room floor.