Lakers guard Kobe Bryant says he's not playing Friday vs. Kings

Lakers star Kobe Bryant hadn't played in eight months after tearing his Achilles tendon.  (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Kobe Bryant's return to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup won't be coming on Friday.

ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin reports that Bryant has ruled himself out for Friday's game against the Sacramento Kings.

Bryant, who has not played this season because of an Achilles injury, has been practicing this week and did not rule himself out for Sunday's contest against the Toronto Raptors. 

 "It feels pretty good. This is the second day now that I've been able to get out there and move around and play and play pretty well and it felt like I could do anything that I wanted to do out there on the floor, so, we progress to (Thursday). On to tomorrow," Bryant said. "Let's see if I can go three days straight and then have another hard workout on Friday and kind of measure it accordingly."

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The Lakers have gone 9-9 without Bryant this season, and boasts the league's top scoring bench. The team is 28th in the league in defense giving up 102.9 points a game.

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