The NBA Finals could be puppetless.

And that would be very, very sad.

Who doesn’t love the LeBron James and Kobe Bryant puppets — the latest display of marketing genius employed by Nike?

But, Nike, we have a problem. It is becoming more and more likely that both puppets will be looking a little longer for their championship rings.

What is the corporate giant going to do?

Make Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard puppets. What else?

Of course, Dwight Howard is not under the Nike umbrella. But who cares? If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, sports needs more puppets.

We need a Hedo Turkoglu puppet. And we need it now.

And why stop there?

Let’s just make puppets until we drop.

-- A Bill Cowher puppet. So Pittsburgh fans can slam the sharp edge of a hockey stick off his puppet jaw.

Give the guy a break, Pittsburghers. He’s not a traitor. He is allowed to root for another team outside of Western Pennsylvania. Honest. Look it up.

It’s not like he’s running around wearing a New England Patriots baseball cap.

-- A Jose Canseco puppet. Then Hong Man Choi (is he related to Hee-seop Choi?) can beat the stuffing out of him again.

-- Perry Hill puppet. The Pirates first-base coach was dressed Wednesday afternoon as if he was getting ready to fight for the Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Hill wore the prerequisite helmet, but garnished that look with arm guard that would have made Barry Bonds jealous.

A puppet would provide more padding in case a foul ball does crash off the ol’ forearm.

-- A Michael Vick puppet. Fido needs a chew toy.