• He was cut by the Philadelphia 76ers.
• He was arrested on weapons charges, after reportedly driving erratically while having a loaded gun under his seat.

When they called me downstairs [to coach Eddie Jordan’s office] I was expecting the worst, so I wasn’t really disappointed. I know I played well and the coaches said I played well. They gave me good advice : things just didn’t go my way this year and it’s a tough year to come in (to the League) at this time (because of the US economy) so I really didn’t feel too disappointed. I just have to go a different route. Some guys get drafted and some guys have to go in through the back door and that is the way I have to go in.

... he could end up playing for a minor league team or overseas in Europe.

For Dionte, you don't get the feeling that would be the end of the world. He'll have a degree, his family and the opportunity to make good money playing basketball somewhere. This is an opportunity he seems to appreciate. Christmas signs countless autographs after Temple home games because he remembers how seeing pros motivated him when he was young. And instead of wearing some cocky number on his back — say, 23 — he wears his 22 to honor Aaron Whitaker, a late friend of his who urged him to enroll at Temple. For Christmas, being a professional basketball player is a cool possibility, rather than a foregone conclusion or a fatalistic only hope.

Christmas was stopped by Highway Patrol Officers Dave Marcellino and Ivan Rosado on Nedro Avenue near Broad Street about 7:30 p.m. for driving erratically in a car with heavily tinted windows, said Highway Patrol Capt. Michael Cochrane.

Christmas was driving without a license, and the officers found a Hi-Point 9mm semiautomatic handgun under the driver's seat, Cochrane said. The weapon was loaded with seven rounds. ...

Police later learned that the car Christmas had been driving belonged to Sixer forward/center Marreese Speights, Cochrane said.