Games record holder Salinas reaches 550

Image credit: Madeleine Clark | @madeleineclarkmedia

Each time Seb Salinas hits an NBL1 West court he extends the all-time men's games played record and he reaches 550 this Thursday and he's never felt better about the Eastern Suns' prospects than he does for 2026.

Whether it's the old SBL or the new NBL1 West, it just wouldn't feel like the men's competition without Salinas as part of it with the two-time championship winning guard now reaching another significant milestone on Thursday night.

Coming off helping the Eastern Suns to the season-opening win last Friday against the Lakeside Lightning, Salinas will now become the first men's player to the 550-game mark on Thursday against the Warwick Senators at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

It's been quite the remarkable career that started in 2003 and has included 154 games with the Senators, 317 with two championships and seven grand finals with the Joondalup Wolves, and now another 78 matches since 2022 with the Eastern Suns.

Every time Salinas reaches another milestone like he will on Thursday, he still pinches himself.

"It is a bit of a surreal moment when these things come up and I had a joke with Trahair at our season launch telling him that I feel like I've had more milestones than points in the last couple of seasons," Salinas told The Hoop Hour on 91.3 SportFM.

"But it is cool to sort of reflect and get some text messages from past players and teammates, and guys I've played against so it is a cool thing and 550 is just another game for us. We made a good start to the year and hopefully we can continue with that form."

No reason not to continue

While Salinas has made it a habit to wait until around Christmastime each year to make a call on his future, he sees no reason to not continue even beyond his 40th birthday now.

While his wife and three kids are still happy to see him keep playing, while his body is sound enough and he's enjoying it and still contributing in some way and not holding anyone back, then Salinas is happy to keep going.

He showed his value in the season-opener as well with another couple of three-pointers to take him to 939 of those in his 549-game career in 15 minutes and to be an important part in the win over Lakeside while teammates like Joe Cook-Green and Marley Sam clearly thrive in his presence.

"I've always said that if I'm enjoying it and am contributing, and I don't see why I would stop," Salinas said.

"It's also really cool to guide some of the young guys that we've got coming through in the squad at the moment, and being a part of that and giving them some advice at training and in games to help them of through.

"That's really important to me and I wouldn’t say the body's holding up as well as it used to, but it is something that over the last couple of seasons have decided to take it one season at a time, and then rocked up to pre-season again this year and it's been a really good couple of months on the court with the boys since. I'm really excited to see how the season unfolds."

Reason for optimism at Suns

The initial plan when Salinas made the move from Joondalup to the Eastern Suns was to help turn that club into one that could have sustained success.

It hasn’t quite happened as yet and 2025 might always be looked upon as a great missed opportunity considering they had a team consisting of Marshall Nelson, Randy Bell and Terrico White, but now Salinas has every reason for high hopes in 2026.

With a dynamic, exciting, youthful and energetic back court pair in Cook-Green and Sam along with a strong front court with Lewis Thomas, Joel Vaiangina and Jordan Simpson, and the athletic Terrandus Smith, and he sees no reason this can't be the season they take that big leap.

"It's definitely the plan and over the last couple of seasons we haven’t hit the mark in regards to how we wanted to perform, and that's for a range of reasons, but the pre-season has been one of the best ones I've had in regards to the guys being on the same page," Salinas said.

"Trahair has done an amazing job with changing a few things up with implementing some new game style things that we're really focused on, and when you're getting guys in like Joe, Ran, Jordan and it definitely helps.

"They're only going to get better and better as the season goes on, and Marley Sam's an absolute freak. I've known him for a couple of years now and had him for a schoolboys team a few years ago, and could always see something special in him.

"He's put a lot of hard work and time into his game and he's obviously showing that out on the court now."

Sharing basketball with three children

As much as more team success is something that Salinas is craving having played in seven grand finals in his 549-game career but now not any since 2019, getting to share the experience as his and wife Tara's three children Mackenzie, Emmersyn and Parker grow makes it more special.

In a way it's getting more difficult to keep playing as their own sporting endeavours increase with two budding basketball players and an Auskicker amongst them, but the older the get the more they are able to enjoy what their dad is doing out on the court.

"That's probably one of the biggest motivating factors for my kids to get to see me play for as long as they can and I joked with my wife the other night that last week's game was the first time all three of them actually sat and watched the whole game without bugging her," Salinas said.

"They can do that a bit more now as they are getting older and my oldest is playing WABL and my middle one has started with her domestic comp, and they're getting right into it.

"They're yelling and screaming and cheering so I try to show them that dad's got a bit of juice still left in him and that's pretty cool.

"For them to come to games and to get out on the court afterwards, and come around to do high-fives is a really cool experience. Hopefully I can be a good role model for them to help them reach their potential as well."

Continuing to play with two special teammates

Through a lot of the remarkable run that Salinas had as captain with the Wolfpack, it was with Reece Maxwell and Rob Huntington as key teammates on those teams under the coaching of Ben Ettridge.

The trio are now in a fifth season together having all made the move to the Eastern Suns, and as constant travel companions, and now all as married men with seven children between them, Salinas wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t continue as a trio playing together.

"Our contract is actually just one, it's a Reece-Sebba-Robbie contract but obviously it's a huge factor with the decision to keep playing having those boys around too," Salinas said.

"We've been really good friends for years and to butter up again and go around makes it a lot easier.

"We all car pool together to the training sessions and games, and to see them flourish not just on the court but as dads as well with both of them having had their second kids recently, that's really cool for them.

"That makes it a bit of an easier decision to keep playing knowing you're doing it with them and hopefully Robbie is back soon, he's just got a bit of a niggle in the achilles at the moment.

"And then Maxy is still as young and fit as ever, and he'll keep contributing positive, and to do it all with them is an awesome experience."

Needing to keep playing too

For Salinas to remain the men's games record  holder in the NBL1 West, he needs to keep playing too because three-time championship winning Geraldton Buccaneers Mat Wundenberg continues to keep going around too.

While his long-time teammate and three-point record holder Aaron Ralph retired following the 2025 triumph for the Buccs, Wundenberg is still playing in 2026. With 543 games under his belt, he's hot on the hammer still of Salinas.

"He's like an old-fashioned footy tagger, I just can't get rid of him but I've known Mut for years and he's an awesome person off the court and then on the court he can get a bit rowdy," Salinas said.

"It's a credit to him and he's a bit older than me so for him to keep on going and playing is obviously an amazing effort, and he has had a few little injuries here and there.

"I've been pretty lucky in that space but I think the success that Geraldton have had has been in a big part of what he provides, and Ralphy is the same. They've really set the tone for that club so good on them."

How far things have come

Given Salinas has reached plenty of milestones now as he racked up the 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500 and games record marks along the way, he's had plenty of time for reflection not only on his journey, but how far the game and the league has come.

For a lot of his career when it was the SBL, unless you physically attended a game there was no way of seeing the action and in a lot of ways the Western Australian competition was a hidden gem from the rest of the country.

However, as technology has improved, the profile of the competition has continued to grow and then since the move to becoming an NBL1 competition, things have got to a point now where Salinas can scarcely believe how far things have come back when he thinks back to his debut with the Stirling Senators in 2003.

"There's been so much change but especially when that NBL1 shift occurred, the biggest thing has been the explosion of the exposure," Salinas said.

"We're getting games on Kayo now, all the social media posts that all the clubs are doing plus the NBL1 and it's not just in the West, it's Australia-wide.

"Every time I scroll through my phone ever second post is highlights of different games and stuff like that so that's a crazy thing to see how far it's come.

"I remember when I first started playing the stats were printed in the newspaper and you had to shuffle to the last couple of pages to find them so obviously as the years have gone on with the internet and social media, that exposure has increased so much and the game can now be seen by so many more people.

"Along with that, there's so many more talented players that have been attracted to come play in the competition and all the growth is only a good thing, and it seems to keep getting better with all that sort of stuff year on year."