After already having done six weeks of rehabilitation to his surgically repaired torn Achilles tendon in his left leg, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is hopeful that he'll make a return to the floor by the team's 2013-14 season opener.
"I hope so," Bryant said in a sit-down interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com on Monday. "That's the challenge. With the tendon, there's really only but so much you can do. There's a certain amount of time that they deem necessary for the tendon to heal where you don't overstretch it and now you never get that spring back.
"So, you just have to be patient, let the tendon heal, and then when that moment comes when they say, 'OK, we can take off the regulator so to speak and now it's on you to train as hard as you can to get back to where you want to be,' that's going to be a good day."
While Bryant awaits for the day he'll be cleared to resume his regular practice routine, his Lakers have dealt with rumors and speculation that All-Star center Dwight Howard may be off to join with the Houston Rockets or various other teams this offseason.
Though the rumors continue to circulate, Bryant feels there's no need for him to make a pitch towards Howard to come back to L.A.
"For me, you kind of let him do his due diligence and then move in and talk to him and figure out if this is a place he wants to be," Bryant said. "We all want him here. But then that's when the selling begins [after Howard is courted by other teams]. You don't start the selling process right before he goes and does all this stuff. You want to get the last word. You want to have the final word and the closing argument.
"I'll give him a little opening statement, but then I have to make sure I have the final word."
Bryant's teammate, forward Pau Gasol, shares the same kind of sentiment about the Howard rumors, saying that as much as he and the team would like for Howard to return, he won't outwardly make a plea for him to stay.
"I haven't talked to him," Gasol said Monday at the Boys & Girls Club in downtown Los Angeles to promote his newly launched self-named foundation. "I think he has to make the decision. It's a big decision. We'll see what he ends up deciding. I understand he's going to take his time and I'm sure he's going to continue to do that."
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