Christmas' spot with the Celtics isn't guaranteed. But he's closer than ever to achieving his childhood goals.
The NBA offseason is a funny time during which every player claims to be in great shape, every team holds high hopes and the Boston Celtics, at least this summer, say all the right things while causing Boston sports fans to do somersaults of love.
Dionte Christmas became the latest Celtic to make endearing comments, explaining to ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg the story of how he turned down guaranteed overseas money because he didn't want to regret turning down a chance at the NBA.
Christmas signed a partially-guaranteed contract with the Celtics after excelling in summer league with Boston's entry. As the roster stands now, he's likely the 15th member of the Celtics. But if the team makes another acquisition or another training camp invitee exceeds expectations, Christmas' spot could be in serious trouble.
He's okay with the risk because he's closer to his childhood goals than ever before.
"Basically, this is my dream," said an emotional Christmas. "I played overseas for the last three years and this was actually like my money year overseas. I played real well over there last year and this is the year I would go back over there and make a lot of money. But this opportunity came and God blessed me with this opportunity with the Celtics.
"I played very well in Orlando [summer league], very well in Vegas, and when [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ainge and [director of player personnel] Austin [Ainge] came with the proposal to my agent, it was my dream, and I couldn't turn it down. I had a long talk with my dad, and he basically was just saying, 'It's not all about the money. It's about chasing your dream.' He still wakes up with regrets, because my dad was an athlete, and he [had to] forego his dreams to do certain things, but he still wakes up with regrets. He was like, 'You don't want to do that, wake up with regrets, saying you could have, but you didn't.'"
Christmas has spent his summer working out, often with Jason Terry. Christmas said he works out between four to five hours per day and is a lot more focused now than he ever has been.
And he should be. His dreams are within reach, but he still needs to pull them a little closer.