Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff believes the decision to play 3x3 for Australia at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year has played a key role in him starting the NBL season so well as he prepares to play his 550th game.

Wagstaff will become just the sixth man to play 550 NBL matches, and he’ll do so having experienced an amazing start to the season.

The 40-year-old has spent more time on court during the first nine games than he has since the 2022-23 season and has been highly influential.

Wagstaff has rarely played during the off-season but said representing Australia during July at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland had given him a different type of fitness.

“For sure. The cardio burn you get from 3x3 is absolutely phenomenal,” he said.

“The style of game and the experiences and the type of people involved in that side of the sport is just amazing, and I love doing that. But just staying in shape and doing something other than playing basketball consistently, I think is is good physically and it’s good mentally. But then that 3x three experience I think helps as well.

“I like to run a bit in the off-season. I enjoy that. I enjoy getting in the weight room, but doing something other than being on the court every single day is is fun as well and mentally refreshing.”

Wagstaff is on track to finish the season in third place for the most games played in the NBL, but he remains a long way short of Tony Ronaldson’s record of 665 matches.

Wagstaff has taken his usual laid-back approach to milestones and his family have remained in Perth instead of travelling with him to Brisbane.

“It wasn’t really even a question,” Wagstaff said about whether he considered bringing his wife and kids.

“It’s a really important game against Brisbane in the context of the season and where we’re at as a group. It wasn’t even discussed or thought about to be honest.

“It’s something that I’ll probably look back on when I’m done. Obviously, you look at Bear (Ronaldson) up there and it’s crazy the longevity that he had.”

The Wildcats are 5-4 after Saturday night’s loss to Illawarra, while Brisbane are 5-5. The NBL released data this week which shows this season’s ladder is significantly tighter than in the past and Wagstaff said it had never been harder to win games.

Wagstaff said he has never taken his career for granted.

“I’m still surprised that I play basketball for a living, and I know that sounds strange,” he said.

“Me and my wife came to Perth originally on a two-year deal to to see how it goes. We often reflect when we’re doing the washing up and looking after three kids in a house and a life in Perth that we’ve built for ourselves.

“It’s pretty crazy that 20 years on we’re sitting here and basketball has been a significant part of that. I still find it quite surreal that this has been our life for the last two decades.”

WONDERFUL WAGSTAFF

Stats over first nine games

YEAR / Mins / Pts

• 26-27: 137 / 63
• 25-26 71 / 23
• 24-25 88 / 27
• 24-23 126 / 41
• 23-22 146 / 79