There's no reason to suggest both can't still be playing next season, but Friday night will see history made in the NBL1 West with the two games record holders in action on the same evening with Seb Salinas hitting 513 and Casey Mihovilovich becomes the first player to reach 550.
There was a period where it appeared the mark of 512 games in the then SBL competition would never be surpassed with Sue Williams and Troy Clarke both ending their careers in the respective women's and men's leagues on the same mark.
However, Mihovilovich surpassed that mark in the women's NBL1 West last year and now will reach the 550-game milestone with the Mandurah Magic on Friday night.
At the same time, Salinas will set a new men's record by playing his 513th game when his Eastern Suns play the Cockburn Cougars and ironically on Troy Clarke Court at Wally Hagan Stadium.
SUPER WOMAN MILO KEEPS MAKING HISTORY FOR MANDURAH
SALINAS TO REACH 513 TO SET RECORD ON TROY CLARKE COURT
As you can imagine, there are no shortage of teammates and opponents ready and willing to share a word or two about both Mihovilovich and Salinas who could very well forever be the league's games record holders.
THOUGHTS ON CASEY MIHOVILOVICH
RACHEL HALLEEN
Ahead of celebrating her 350th game, Mandurah captain Rachel Halleen marvelled that this is her 18th season playing with the Magic and despite that, she's almost 200 games behind her teammate Mihovilovich.
One of the highlights of Halleen's career will always be playing alongside her.
"She's just a workhorse in every aspect of her life, I don’t know how else to put it. She literally has every minute down to a timetable in her day and it's very special to be able to train alongside her, and play alongside her," Halleen said.
"She makes the people around her better whether that's on the basketball court or just in life in general. I think anyone who has the pleasure of being a friend of Casey will say the same thing, she makes you a better person and she wants nothing but the best for everyone around her.
"She definitely strives for success herself but wants nothing more than success for people around her even more."
EMMA KLASZTORNY
One of those former teammates who Emma Klasztorny will always label as her hero is Casey Mihovilovich. Playing against her might never be much fun, but she just continues to marvel at what the legendary games record holder is doing as she approaches her own 550-game milestone.
"See when you think of that, my number means nothing compared to how many games Milo has played," Klasztorny said.
"I feel like Milo just needs to stop so everyone can enjoy their milestones without feeling so inferior to her, but honestly she is a superwoman. She's still my hero and always will be.
"When you have to do those questionnaires and you get asked who your idol is, I always said Milo because she was always that person for me and she always will be.
"I think she's a super woman and being the CEO of the City of Mandurah now so doing what she does with a full-time job looking after a city, being a mum and playing a basketball, she's a super woman. She is like a big sister to me."
NICOLE JORRE DE ST JORRE
One aspect of Jorre de St Jorre’s career you can’t ignore is the wars she’s had with Casey Mihovilovich at the Mandurah Magic.
For Jorre de St Jorre, there’s an enormous mutual respect there even if it’s war once they hit the floor against one another.
"To be honest I didn’t realise that she was the same age as me. I always thought she was a year younger than me, but when she turned 40 last year two months before I did, that’s the first time I realised," she said.
"But Milo is Milo, and she’s always going to do Milo things. She’s just a phenomenal player and I look up to her so much. She’s always got things to say especially around finals time.
"I think we’ve played against them a couple of times and knocked them out now a couple of times, and after each series she was always is so encouraging afterwards.
"We’re always going to have our battles because we’re both point guards, but that’s just the way we’ve grown up playing against each other and I do have a lot of respect for her."
SEB SALINAS
The fact that the two games record holders are going to be playing still at the same time and celebrating significant moments on the same night is something you can never plan for, but it's something Salinas can't help but embrace.
"I think it's pretty cool that we are both now still playing and hold the records. What she's done in her career and is still doing is unbelievable, and her achievement is way beyond mine in regards to how she's going," Salinas said.
"We're still contributing to our teams that we're playing on, and competing well, and I'm not sure if it will ever happen again that anyone will get to this amount of games in the men's and women's comps. But it is pretty cool to be mentioned alongside her when you think of records like this at this level."
THOUGHTS ON SEB SALINAS
REECE MAXWELL
Reaching 300 games for Reece Maxwell in a career that started in 2008 and has seen him be part of five grand finals, and also spend time at college and miss a season and-a-half by playing football, and it's an achievement not to be sneezed at.
However, when he thinks about his teammate who is about to reach 513, it's hard to comprehend and he having spent his whole career calling Salinas a teammate, he still marvels at what he's doing.
"That's why if people try to make a bit of a fuss about my 300 games, then you look at Seb and it makes me feel like I'm still an under-14s junior," he said.
"It honestly is incredible what he's done and I know I've had some seasons off to pursue other things, but I've been going for 15 years now and I've only just got to 300. To think that he's got over 500 it's honestly remarkable, I don’t know how else to describe.
"It's insane how he's managed to do that and it's even more if you add in the West Coast Classic year and he already should be well beyond the record already.
"I know my body gets pretty sore at times after games now but you look at Seb run up and down, and he's having a really good season as well and you just don’t know how he does it. It does make me think I've got a few years left in the body though."
CODY ELLIS
Salinas is someone Warwick Senators captain Cody Ellis has spent his entire SBL/NBL1 West career playing against but their connection goes back further than that, and the fact he's not even halfway to the 500-game milestone Salinas recently celebrated is hard to comprehend.
"It's unreal, it's such an impressive feat. Sebba coached me at under-18s when he was playing at Warwick so we go back quite aways," Ellis said.
"Sebba has had an unbelievable career with a couple of championships and so many finals appearances, and 500 is a number that just doesn’t seem plausible when you think I'm just getting to 200.
"I think it's really cool and the way he has looked after his body, he could play for another 500 he reckons but it's really cool to be able to compete against a guy whose longevity in the league has been second to none really."
BRENDAN DINARDO
Brendan Dinardo has spent most of his career going up against Salinas in the back court including their battle in that 2019 Grand Final where the Buccs beat the Wolves, but to now see his leadership and professionalism as Eastern Suns teammates has given him a whole new appreciation of him.
"We always joke around at training and stuff that nobody is going to catch Seb, and how he's still going after all these years," Dinardo said.
"To think I've been playing for 10 years and I'm not even halfway to where he is, it's a true testament to how hard he's been putting into WA basketball and the commitment he's made to the SBL and NBL1.
"You always hear about Sebba in particular being a real true leader and when you play against him, you can feel it from being on the other team.
"But now that he's joined us for the last two years, the input that he puts in during training and the games is beyond what anyone else can really offer with all the experience and knowledge that he can share with the rest of the team.
"It's just a real valuable attribute that he brings to the team and the same goes for Maxy and Robbie. They are very well spoken and just have a lot of experience behind them to really help our team grow so it's been great having them on board."
RYAN GODFREY
On the same weekend that Salinas celebrated 500 games earlier this season, Rockingham Flames championship captain Ryan Godfrey reached his 300-game milestone.
Godfrey isn’t sure if he could keep playing long enough to add 200 more games to his career, but while he's able to juggle basketball with family and work, and while he's still contributing and playing well, he sees no end in sight just yet.
"I guess it depends on if the league wants to have more COVID years where they take away games even though we play them, but that's an incredible achievement from Seb," Godfrey said.
"He's a guy who has been a catalyst of the league for such a long time and 500 games is amazing. He's a really good guy to go along with that and definitely the best of luck to him, but for me, at this stage I just am taking it year by year.
"Games played certainly doesn’t come into consideration in deciding if I'm playing the next year or not, obviously there's a lot to life as you get a little bit older.
"But as long as I can juggle work, family and I still enjoy the sport, and I'm not taking anyone's position away, then I'll keep ticking along. For however long that is, we'll find out."
CASEY MIHOVILOVICH
It's amazing how fate works sometimes and on the same night that Mihovilovich becomes the first player in league history to reach 550 games, Seb Salinas will set a new men's record by playing his 513rd match when he runs out for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
"That's fantastic, I didn’t realise that," Mihovilovich said.
"He's a really great person too, Seb, and I'm really excited for him that he gets to have that legacy for the men. I think when you have a great person then the whole basketball community are really proud of his achievements. I'm really excited for him to break that record."
