When Kobe Bryant was last seen in the play-offs, he was hopeless and helpless as his Los Angeles Lakers were being run over by the Boston Celtics in Game Six of the NBA finals.
LeBron James never even got to a sixth game in his first time on the big stage, as the Cleveland Cavaliers were quickly swept away by the San Antonio Spurs.
Now, with one big injury in the Eastern Conference and too many flawed teams in the West, one of the superstars has a good chance of getting the ending he wants this time.
"If I'm not competing for the NBA championship, then I'm wasting my time and I'm wasting my teammates' time," James said.
The play-offs begin this weekend, with James and the Cavaliers hosting the Detroit Pistons today in their opener.
Also today, Boston, without the injured Kevin Garnett, face the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks visit San Antonio in a rematch of a recent post-season thriller and the Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Houston Rockets for their first play-off game since 2003.
Bryant and the Lakers get started tomorrow against the Utah Jazz. Then, the Orlando Magic host the Philadelphia 76ers, NBA scoring leader Dwyane Wade leads the Miami Heat to the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Hornets visit the Denver Nuggets.
Not an easy road
Cleveland finished with a league-best 66-16 record and have home-court advantage throughout the post-season. That means someone is going to have to beat the Cavaliers in their arena, where they were 39-2 this season - and that second loss came in the regular-season finale when James didn't play.
Their road won't be easy, though. Few teams can match the post-season experience of the Pistons, who have made six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals.
After that could be the explosive Wade, followed by perhaps the defending champion Celtics. And unlike in 2007, when the Cavaliers weren't viewed as title contenders, this time they won't sneak up on anyone.
"They'll be facing the kind of pressure we felt last year being the No. 1 seed," Boston coach Doc Rivers said.
The Lakers stormed through the West play-offs last year, winning 12 of 15 games. They'll be favoured to get through again with so many potential opponents entering at a disadvantage.
San Antonio? No Manu Ginobili.
Portland? Too young.
New Orleans? Too injury prone.
Utah? Can't win on the road.
Denver might have the best chance, finally having earned home-court advantage in the first round after five straight exits. The Nuggets have a proven post-season performer in Chauncey Billups, the 2004 finals MVP whose early season acquisition sparked a division title run from a team that began the season as an afterthought.
It's been mostly play-off misery since then for the Mavericks. They blew a 2-0 lead to Miami in those finals, were embarrassed as the No. 1 seed by Golden State in the first round in 2007, then lost again in the first round last year.
Just like James and Bryant, the Mavericks are looking for a different script.
"What you want to do is get hot. That usually means you're doing everything better," coach Rick Carlisle said. "Hey, there are 16 teams wanting to do that. I don't think we're any different than the other 15 teams. We've been playing well, we want to continue to move in an upward direction."