Quite the journey for Klasztorny from 200 to 250 games

What a dramatic change in life and basketball Emma Klasztorny has undergone in between 200 and 250 NBL1 West games and while her heart will always be in Mandurah, she's loving her new home with Joondalup Wolves and can't wait to make a championship push.

The Klasztorny family was synonymous with the Mandurah Magic for so long and that's why it's bizarre now to not only see Emma playing at the Wolfpack but her brothers Fletcher (Geraldton Buccaneers) and Harrison (Perth Redbacks) elsewhere and her 244-game inspirational sister Bree having retired.

Initially it was moving to Kalgoorlie to work and play that led to Klasztorny doing the almost unthinkable and play with the upstart Goldfields Giants and move on from the Magic.

While she returned home to Mandurah in 2021, it was back to the Goldfields in 2022 and then as it turned out, for health reasons more than anything she needed to come back to Perth and that's seen her play all the way up north with the Joondalup Wolves.

Klasztorny might have had plenty to deal with this season that flies under the radar with multiple surgeries with some significant, and painful, health problems to get sorted, you wouldn’t know it by watching her play.

She's fitted in instantly at the Wolves, is forming a potent front court alongside Teige Morrell and Nes'eya Parker-Williams, and now as she prepares for her 250th game milestone, she's going to be a part of Joondalup's championship push.

What does it mean to reach 250 games

As Klasztorny prepares to play her 250th game this Saturday night with the Wolves playing host to the Lakeside Lightning at HBF Arena Joondalup, ironically one of the clubs she played in a losing Grand Final against with the Magic, it's more about the bigger picture.

While she'll never shrug off getting to a milestone like 250 games with 219 of those having been played with Mandurah, for Klasztorny it's about more than the number.

"Honestly I just look at it as a number and that it means I still get to play the sport, and that I still get to keep myself fit and healthy so that I can," Klaztorny said. 

"So I think the thing that means the most to me is the people that I get to play with and the friendships that you develop along the way. 

"That's the thing I'll remember forever and not so much the number next to my games. It's more about the love for the game, the fitness and what you learn along the way, and the friendships that I really cherish about having played this many games."

Initial decision to leave Mandurah

Going back to 2020 when Klasztorny first decided to leave Mandurah and join the Goldfields Giants, it took plenty of agonising to come to terms with that decision and to be prepared to move on from that sisterhood and community feel that the Magic's women program has created.

However, as she looks back on it now, to take herself out of her comfort zone of being with her home club and with her leaders like Casey Mihovilovich and Rachel Halleen to set the standard, Klasztorny enjoyed the challenge of helping to start up a new team with the Giants.

Going back to last year and she was having a terrific season as well until injuring a knee. She's glad that she went through the whole experience both in terms of the basketball at the Giants, but also living and working in Kalgoorlie.

"It was very challenging actually. Honestly it's probably hardest decision I've had to make in my career leaving Mandurah, but for me and where I was at, it was probably the best decision for me," Klasztorny said.

"Why it was so hard was just leaving the sisterhood and the connection that I had there especially playing my whole career Casey Milo along with Rachel Halleen and my sister Bree. Just the community feel down there is amazing, but the last couple of years have been very challenging to be honest. 

"Going from what I had in Mandurah with that connection on the team we had, going to the Giants which I chose to do on a team I had no experience with was a real big challenge. I absolutely loved it at the same time and having younger girls look up to you helped me learn how to approach different situations, and communicate properly with people. 

"I wasn’t playing in the shadows of someone like Casey Milo anymore and instead I was now the experienced players for the younger girls to look up to. So that helped me grow and develop as a person, and then you do feel the pressure of the spotlight being on you but it's about how you choose to take that as well. 

"I enjoyed that challenge even though it was a very big one. The coach Thommo is an absolute legend and him going from D-League to the NBL1 was a massive step for him and his recruiting was done quite well, and he tried to bring in some experience and being that marquee sort of player meant I developed quite a strong relationship with him. That's something I'll always cherish from my career."

When Klasztorny then moved back to Perth for 2023, she wasn’t sure what that meant in a basketball sense and she couldn’t be happier now to be where she is with Joondalup. 

But looking back on the way she might have neglected her body a little in Kalgoorlie and pushed her self too hard on all fronts, she had to get back to Perth.

"Then going to Joondalup, I never in a million could have pictured myself playing that far away from home and for a team we had so many battles with," she said. 

"So I went from Mandurah to Kal and then from Kal to Joondalup, and it was from one end of the spectrum to the other in so many ways.

"Off-court in Kal, I had a lot going on and was working 12-hour days and playing basketball so going from the gym in the morning, working and then training, it was very full on and that could have been part of the reason I did my knee because I was pushing myself so hard. 

"But in that moment I learnt that you just don't have to try and do everything at once. It was probably a lesson to try and slow down a bit so I learned a lot from that."

Joining the Wolfpack in 2023

Given the career long battles Klasztorny has had playing against the Joondalup Wolves, she is as surprised as anyone to now be wearing the green Wolfpack uniform and to be pulling that on to celebrate her 250-game milestone.

However, at the same time she couldn’t be happier with what she's found at her new home both in terms of the professionalism of the club, and then the chemistry built on court especially with Teige Morrell up front in a team currently sitting 15-3 in third position.

"This year has been even more challenging in a way as well going to another completely different team as well but it's been good," Klasztorny said.

"We do have a very solid team and obviously the goal is to win it all and I think Joondalup is such a professional club with everything they do. You do get cared for and treated well as athletes so hopefully that can help us get over the line as well. 

"I am loving it and I do love playing with the experienced players on this team, and I think I'm learning a lot from Teige especially. She's such a solid player inside and being a bit more versatile with the both of us helps us with how we play too. 

"We were both spilling over each I think over the first three or four weeks and it took us that long just to get used to playing with each other, but all that stuff comes with the more you play together." 

Still having plenty to deal with this year

To watch Klasztorny play this year and you would think it's all been smooth sailing joining the Wolves. She's played all but one game, is averaging 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds and has been instrumental in them sitting in third position and still fighting for a top two finish.

However, Klasztorny has been fighting a quiet battle health wise off the court that has required her going in for multiple surgeries.

The good news is she hopes the worst is now behind her and that she might have got things finally under control that she might have just tried to put on the brave face and fight through especially when in Kalgoorlie.

"It has been good this year the longer it's gone on as a team, but to be honest I've had a bit of a shitty run with my health that not a lot of people know about," Klasztorny said.

"I've had to have a few surgeries and have been in and out quite a bit especially from training. Since moving back from Kal, I've been quite sick and about two weeks after moving back I had a surgery. 

"Then I had another one in May and then another one only in June so it's been pretty fully on. This year has been another challenge for a lot of reasons but I only ended up having to miss one game when I had the surgery that week. 

"But I care about basketball too much to stop and don't want to let my team down. Looking back now, I did probably put my body to the side for a few years there and then it all hit me at once so I had to get it solved but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from playing. 

"Some people tell me it was the worst thing i could have done to keep playing, but I didn’t think it could make anything worse. I also think that now I'm feeling so much healthier than I was at the start of the year it might be why I'm playing a bit better because I'm feeling better. 

"That might have made a bit of a difference too but it's also probably just an age thing where you get a bit older and you become more relaxed and care free. I'm just trying to find the fun in it all as well."

Chance of a championship after those missed Mandurah chances

It remains one of the great quirks of the history of the league that the Mandurah Magic are still yet to win a women's championship despite reaching six grand finals.

Klasztorny was part of the last two of those in 2017 and 2018, and it's not something you easily get over, but now to have that chance to seriously contend for a title with the Wolves in 2023 is something she's fully embracing.

"It still scars me the Mandurah grand finals, it honest still scars me. It would be very ironic to join Joondalup and if this is how I get that championship, but the top four is going to be a real battle and it's up for grabs for anyone and you wouldn’t even rule out Mandurah still," she said.

"Finals is just a different ball game, it really is and this year will be no different but I'm looking forward to being back part of it again.

"For me personally I feel pretty good with how things are going and I think we can finish pretty strong. If we can just keep holding each other accountable for what we do on and off the court, and knuckle down that little bit harder, I think we can get the job done. 

"On the court we do lack that little bit of communication sometimes if I'm honest but the team work is there and we have all the pieces. It's just a matter of how bad we want it in the end I guess and nerves start to kick in at this time of the year, but having that little bit more experience hopefully means we can look past that as well and I'm feeling good about our chances."

Feeling playing against Mandurah now

Klasztorny's 249th game was back in Mandurah last Saturday night which was a strange feeling especially to play in a win against the Magic for the first time.

Klasztorny didn’t quite know how to feel about playing back on her old home floor not in a Magic uniform and then celebrating a win against her old team, but also some of her best friends in life.

"When I was at the Giants, it was my first time playing against Mandurah and it was a very strange feeling and then I just didn’t know how to take losing against them," Klasztorny said.

"It wasn’t anything personal or anything against the girls, it was just being on the other side of them and it kind of threw me a little bit but I did love the challenge at the same time. 

"It kind of also put a few things into perspective for me but then last weekend and beating them, I didn’t know how to take that feeling either. I'm a Mandurah girl at heart and always will be so it was a different feeling that was for sure."

One of those former teammates who 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 next week.

"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 superwoman 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 superwoman. She is like a big sister to me."