(Image courtesy of the Washington Wizards Blog)

As promised, Gilbert’s wax statue was unveiled today at Madame Tussauds.  I think it’s looks really, really nice and it’ll last a lot longer than his ice sculpture.

At the event, Gilbert had some things to say.  First, here’s what he had to say about the team’s struggles to this point:

“I don’t want to see them struggle, but if this is one of those years where we don’t make the playoffs or we finish in last place … that’s what happened to San Antonio and that’s how they got Tim Duncan and look at them now … and that’s for the better.”

He also had this to say about when he might be returning:

“They said Jan. 1 — there is no doubt that I will be good to go … play 40 minutes.

I definitely want to wait until after New Year’s. … It will give me time to get in shape. Plus I want to learn the new playbook.”

So there you have it.  As we saw last year, the return date is subjective and could very well change again in the coming weeks, but it’s nice to see that he’s not trying to jeopardize his future by trying to rush back and end up creating more problems.