Kobe Bryant on return this season: 'My plan hasn't changed'

Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant has only played in six games this season. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant says he plans on returning this season even though the Lakers are likely to not make the playoffs.

Bryant hasn't played since Dec. 17  after suffering a fracture of the lateral tibial plateau in his left knee. He had already missed the team's first 19 games after coming back from a torn left Achilles tendon

"My plan hasn't changed," Bryant said Sunday, via ESPN.com. "I'm just going about it every single day just trying to get better. That's my job. My job is to get my butt back out there on the court when I'm healthy enough to play and that hasn't changed."

The Lakers are 18-33 this season and sit 13th in the Western Conference. Bryant said it has been frustrating watching the team go through struggles.

"The last week's been horrible," Bryant said. "That Cleveland game, it was crazy. And then [Chris] Kaman goes to sleep on the bench, it's like when big brother is not around, you start doing crazy [stuff]. So, it's been rough. It's been rough."

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