Lakers guard Kobe Bryant: Return could be 'weeks' not 'days'

Kobe Bryant averaged 27 points, six assists and 5.6 rebounds last season. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said Tuesday that it is more likely to be weeks than days before he returns to the court.

Bryant talked to the media before the Lakers contest against the Washington Wizards and gave some insight about when he might make his season debut. Bryant, 35, said he will need to get some of his explosiveness back before he steps back on the court.

He has not played this season while he continues to work his way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in April. He is not expected to play during the team's three-game road trip this week.

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"It's a process. I don't think it's going to happen overnight so we'll just have to kind of see," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said to the Los Angeles Times last weekend. "He knows what we're doing, so when he's ready to go, he'll tell us."

Bryant signed a two-year contract extension through 2015-16 worth $48.5 million on Monday.  He will make $30.5 million this season.

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