The Utah Jazz were not featured in the NBA's Christmas Day slate, and for good reason. They are not among the worst NBA teams, but they still aren't that much of a draw, regardless. Many will point to Utah also being a small market team, but Minnesota, Denver, and Oklahoma City - all small market teams - were very much featured in the most hyped non-playoff games of the season.
Those teams have more or less provided the template for how a team like the Jazz, who haven't played on Christmas since 2021, can get featured on the most popular day of the regular season for NBA fans.
1. They need to be good again (duh)
The NBA will feature small market teams on Christmas if those teams are among the league's powerhouses. The Thunder, Nuggets, and Timberwolves are certainly considered to be among the best seven or eight teams in the league, so the league would be stupid not to feature its most exciting squads on Christmas.
The Jazz will need to clear that bar even to be considered for a Christmas Day game. They have a ways to go in that regard, but it is attainable. In their case, they will have to be at the very least as good as the Timberwolves are to get the NBA's attention.
The fans know this all too well, but the Jazz don't have the same luxury the Lakers and Knicks do: no matter how good either team is, they will get a Christmas game again because of how big a market they play in. It's unfair, but that's just how the cookie crumbles.
2. They need to be a problem for one of the NBA's best teams (at the very least)
Something we saw yesterday is that two of the favorites out West really struggled with teams many believed weren't in the same conversation as them - OKC and Denver. San Antonio and Minnesota might not be at their level, but they have proven themselves to be a bother for them.
It makes for an exciting storyline to see an NBA team that is seemingly invincible look, well, quite vincible. The Jazz don't necessarily have to be a contender, but if they show that one of the NBA's best teams has a kryptonite, it makes for an exciting game altogether.
Utah would prefer to be the favorite, like any NBA team would, but if they prove themselves to be a team that everyone should pay attention to, contender or no, that might be enough to play on Christmas.
3. They need some of the league's most exciting stars
The reason why some of the other teams were featured on Christmas Day was that they have some of the league's very best players - Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards - that the Jazz lack. The Jazz have Lauri Markkanen, but anyone who suggests that he's on the same level as them, despite his historic start, is a fool.
Now, anyone who pays attention to the Jazz knows they aren't exactly deprived of exciting young talent. Keyonte George has been electric from the start and has only gotten better as the season has continued. Ace Bailey's rookie season has been uneven, but he has given Jazz fans every reason to be excited for what's to come. They are not on the same level as Jokic - hell, they're not even close -but they are exciting enough that they could at some point.
The last time the Jazz played on Christmas was in 2021, Donovan Mitchell's (and Rudy Gobert's) last season with the team. Mitchell (and Gobert) was featured yet again, showing that he still is one of the NBA's most fun players, no matter how disappointing the Cavaliers have been.
They don't need a carbon copy of Mitchell to play on Christmas, but they do need one who's just as exciting.