Lakers’ Kobe Bryant could return this month

The report that Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant could return Friday may have been a bit optimistic, but he could be close to making a return.

Bryant told reporters “yeah, yeah, I can” when asked if he could return before the end of the month.

The Lakers, who lost center Dwight Howard to free agency (and the Houston Rockets) in the offseason, are off to a 5-7 start and obviously could use the future Hall-of-Famer.

Even when Bryant does come back, many wonder how long it will take him to once again become the focal point of the team.

“I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s always different when you get out on the practice floor and when the game actually starts. It remains to be seen. I don’t know,” Bryant told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles. “My responsibility is to make life easier for my teammates. That’s my job and that’s Pau [Gasol’s] job to command double teams, command load defenses where we can get some guys some open looks and high percentage opportunities. If I can step out on the floor and do that, that’s an accomplishment.”