Kelsey Griffin jokes "I'm getting a bit soft in my old age."
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Hence why she thought she might struggle to keep her emotions in check during a mad dash to Bendigo to celebrate two of her friends' landmark WNBL milestones.
Former Capital Kelly Wilson broke Canberra legend Jess Bibby's record for most WNBL games when she stepped onto the court for her 395th on Friday night.
The 35-year-old guard played a key role in snapping Canberra's championship drought during her lone season in Capitals colours before returning to Bendigo for the 2019-20 campaign.
Wilson's milestone match also served as Gabe Richards' 250th game for the Spirit as she prepares to bring down the curtain on her own sparkling career.
Griffin shared a storied career with the pair in Bendigo, adamant they helped her rediscover her love of basketball amid a torrid injury run, before linking up with Wilson in Canberra last summer.
The Capitals star flew to Melbourne and drove to Bendigo on Friday, and will return to Canberra on Saturday morning to continue preparations for their clash with Sydney on Sunday.
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"It's two of my best mates, both getting accolades on the same night at the club that really rejuvenated my basketball career. It's just something you couldn't miss," Griffin said.
"They're two of my best mates, and they reinvigorated my love of the game.
"To be able to fall into such high calibre people, who played the game the right way and really wanted to win, I just really found my basketball community with them and my other teammates in Bendigo.
"That was a huge part, because I was really struggling with professional basketball life and what it meant.
"I was feeling like I just needed to produce stats and that's not the kind of player I was, and then I came to Bendigo and found teammates like Gabe and Kelly.
"They care about you as a person, they want you to enjoy life, and they're also competitive and want to win. I really owe my professional career to the two of them."
Wilson is likely to finish her 18th season in the WNBL on 397 games with Bendigo out of playoff contention.
But Canberra coach Paul Goriss sees few reasons why Wilson couldn't go around for one more season to crack the 400-game barrier.
"She is going down in the record books. I doubt whether anyone is going to break that record now. Who knows, she may play another season," Goriss said.
"It's great for her because she is a great person, a great ambassador for the game, and you know she has worked her butt off for every season she has played in the WNBL. Super excited for her.
It's just something you couldn't miss. They're two of my best mates, and they reinvigorated my love of the game.
- Kelsey Griffin
"I think she can, she does a great job taking care of her body. She is always in super shape and I just think with that competitive streak in her, she could quite easily go another season."
Capitals import Kia Nurse thinks she might be able to go a little bit longer than that.
"I can tell you she could probably play like 15 more seasons with her stamina and how fit she is," Nurse said.
"It's just absolutely incredible, she is more than deserving. I'm so happy for her to have been able to do this, she deserves it."