Basketball players, in common with elite sportsmen the world over, have used a variety of ways to motivate themselves, but as Dwight Howard makes his NBA Finals debut in Los Angeles tonight, the Orlando Magic centre can claim a first.

The 23-year-old has been the key figure in the Magic's unlikely charge to the Finals and the best-of-seven-match series with the Los Angeles Lakers. Before the play-off campaign started, the Finals were expected to be between Kobe Bryant's Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James, the NBA's most valued player.

The prospect of a confrontation between the two leading players in the game appealed to Nike, the sportswear company, which has James and Bryant under contract. It aired a series of advertisements featuring puppets of the two players in a range of domestic scenarios. The campaign captivated most of America, but it may also have helped to catapult Howard and the Magic into the Finals.

Howard saw the campaign as a lack of respect towards his team's chances and said it had inspired him and his team-mates to upset James and the Cavaliers 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. “It was very disrespectful,” Howard said. “It was like they just counted us out, like we didn't have a chance to win.”

Howard's anger was justified for the Magic had already knocked out the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, in a seven-game series that showed that the Magic make up in teamwork, heart and determination what they lack in superstar power. Their game plan is based on Howard's threat close to the basket, which sucks in defenders, clearing space for Orlando's long-range shooters, but they will still start the Finals as underdogs.

“I've got a long way to go,” Howard said of his potential. “I know I'm not a good player yet, but that just keeps me motivated.” And, as James and the Nike puppets will testify, that could spell trouble for the Lakers.