Tangela Smith broke the all-time record for games played Friday against the Fever NBAE/Getty Images

When Vickie Johnson retired from the WNBA following the completion of the 2009 season, her career total of 410 games played stood as a new league record and a true milestone of consistency, durability and tenacity in the face of everyday pains that come with playing a physical sport like basketball.

Friday night against the Indiana Fever, Phoenix’s Tangela Smith raised that bar to an all new level, surpassing Johnson’s record of 410 and setting the new record at 411 and counting.

“They reminded me at the beginning of the season that ‘you’re going to have 29 games or something,’” Smith said, stepping away from pre-game shootaround at Saturday’s Liberty game. “It’s been in my head the whole season. I just wanted to get there.”

Smith began her WNBA career 12 years ago when the Sacramento Monarchs selected her 12th overall in the 1998 Draft. After seven seasons with the Monarchs and two with the now-defunct Charlotte Sting, Smith found her way to the Mercury following a 2007 draft-day trade with the Minnesota Lynx, who owned her rights from the Sting dispersal draft.

The move to Phoenix ultimately proved to be a perfect fit for Smith. After coming up short of a title in nine combined seasons with Sacramento and Charlotte, it took just three seasons in Phoenix for Smith to claim not one but two championships.

Following a year in which she started every game in her first season with the Mercury, Smith played in a career-low 25 games in 2008. Still a formidable amount of games for many players around the league, but not exactly something you’d expect from the league’s soon-to-be Ironwoman. Especially when you consider she’s played eight complete seasons without missing a game, is currently working on her ninth and at one point played in 224 straight games before a knee bruise left her out of the lineup for three games in 2005.

Smith has averaged 11.5 ppg and 5.4 rpg throughout her career NBAE/Getty Images

“2008 was the hardest for me because I was playing injured,” said Smith. “At the break I just had to stop because it really took a toll on my body and I was just playing and playing. I had knee problems. I wanted to keep playing because we had a chance to get to the playoffs but I had to look out for myself and I had to stop that year.”

The rigors of a compacted schedule can certainly take a toll on players. This season alone stands as evidence to the fact, as a number of players have missed significant time or even the entire season due to injury. Basketball is a physically demanding sport and one that can certainly fatigue the body even in the offseason, should players choose to compete internationally. Overseas play has sent Smith to all corners of the world, as she’s logged time in seven countries over the span of 10 seasons, including stops in Italy (98-99 and 03-04), Israel (99-00), Turkey (00-01, 06-07, 09-10,), Korea (01-03), Poland (04-05), Russia (07-08) and China (08-09).

Statistically, Smith currently ranks in the top five in three all-time WNBA categories: Fourth overall in minutes played, fifth overall in points and sixth overall in total rebounds. Throughout the course of Smith’s career, she wasn’t exactly coming off the bench for six minutes a game, working up a quick sweat and calling it a night. Her career averages of 28.7 minutes and 11.5 points per game is testament to the fact that Smith could be relied on for more than just her durability. In essence, she’s just as reliable a scorer as she is a durable one.

Even this season is not short of milestones for Smith, who became just the fourth player in league history to record 4,500 points and 2,000 rebounds. On July 3, she passed Sheryl Swoopes on the WNBA career-scoring list and surpassed Margo Dydek for sixth all-time on the rebounding list. Those feats aside, Smith remains humble of her accomplishments.

“Sometimes it’s not what you do statistically, it’s being there and being a leader,” said Smith. “Just being there for your teammates. I’m just blessed to have played this long. You can get all kinds of injuries in this league because it’s a physical sport.”

Knowing when to listen to your body and recognize the difference between everyday soreness or serious injury is an attribute that Smith said helped her get this far and stay healthy for this long. That, and a little off-day conditioning.

“I swim a lot,” Smith said. “That keeps you in the best shape ever. It makes you tired when you’re doing it but I think it’s good conditioning. When I’m not playing I just go to the health center down the block from my house and just swim every day.”

Clearly Smith has shown no signs of slowing down. Should she play out the remainder of the season, then the record heading into the 2011 season will stand at an impressive 415 games. The only question is, how much longer does Smith plan on adding to it?

“Some of the people who could have broken the record, they have family and they have babies and stuff,” shrugged Smith. “Which is hard to do in this league because if you want to play so long you have to put a whole year aside if you want to have a family. I think I’ll give it two more years and then I’ll start thinking about retiring.”