Kobe Bryant targets return in November or December

All those days where he could do nothing but sit in bed and watch “Modern Family” remains a distant memory for Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers star appeared on 710 ESPN on Wednesday, reporting “I’m doing all right” after spending the past month making notable progress on his surgically repaired left Achilles tendon to make this prediction surrounding his recovery.

“I’m shooting for November, December, latest- that’s my goal in my head, that’s what I’m shooting for,” Bryant said. “I’m really, really determined about getting there. You know, I wont have any fear or any worry about the tendon rupturing again, I mean there’s nothing I can do about it, if it goes again, it goes again. But once I’m ready to go, it’s on.”


Bryant’s internal timeline coincides with the Lakers’ initial estimate that he’d be sidelined for at least six to nine months after strained his left Achilles’ tendon April 12 against the Golden State Warriors. That means Bryant is likely to miss all of training camp and possibly the first month of the 2013-14 season in what will be the final year of his $30.5 million contract.

Bryant initially worked on what he called “really boring stuff,” included rooting out inflammation, breaking scar tissue and ensuring his left toes become functional. But for the past month, Bryant has progressed enough to walk on an anti-gravity treadmill and an elliptical machine as well as perform calf raises. Bryant also tweeted 15 days ago that he has since walked without any crutches.

“It’s going to be more than fine. I’ve very pleased with where I’m at,” Bryant said. “I can get up in the morning, get up and walk to the bathroom lke nothing was wrong. There was a point where it was really stiff because I had been immobile all night and it’s tough to talk. But right now it feels better than before I got hurt.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com