"I'm shooting for November, December (at the) latest," Bryant said. "That's my goal in my head. That's what I'm shooting for. I'm really, really determined about getting there. As soon as they take the governor off when they think the tendon is strong enough for me to be able to progress to doing really heavy weights and more conditioning and things like that, then it's on me. I won't have any fear or any worry of the tendon rupturing again. There's nothing I can do about it. If it goes again, it goes again. But once I'm ready to go, it's going to be on."
Despite not being able to run yet, Bryant has been rehabbing his leg almost daily by running on an altered-gravity treadmill, working out on an elliptical machine and doing strength exercises such as calf raises.
"I think it's going to be fine," Bryant said. "I think it's going to be more than fine. I'm very pleased with where I'm at. I can get up in the morning and just get up and walk to the bathroom like nothing was wrong. There was a point there where you get up and it's really stiff because it's been immobile all night and it's tough to kind of walk a little bit, but now it feels fine. It actually feels better than it did before I got hurt."
Bryant also said he's been watching the NBA Finals and has no rooting interest in who wins between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. But he relished looking back at what it means to play a Game 7 with the championship on the line.
"I think for me, the most fun was probably Game 7 against Boston," Bryant said, referring to the Lakers' 83-79 win against the Celtics to take the title in 2010.
Despite shooting just 6 for 24 in the game, Bryant explained it was his favorite experience out of the 37 games he's played in seven Finals series.
"You're looking the lion in the face, man," Bryant said. "Whatever (time) it is in the fourth quarter of Game 7, that's gut-check time, man. That's probably the best feeling."
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