NBA: Kobe Bryant Targets To Return on Season Opener; Wants Dwight Howard to Stay

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is aiming to play as early as the opener of the 2013-2014 season, barely six weeks since he underwent a surgery to fix a torn Achilles tendon in his left leg, the All-Star shooting guard told ESPN.

With the cast already removed from his leg, Bryant has already begun a grueling rehabilitation as he tries to regain his top form for next season.

Athletes coming off Achilles tendon surgeries usually need 9 to 12 months to fully recover, but the 'Black Mamba' is targeting to return way ahead of schedule.

"I hope so," Bryant said in a sit-down interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com when he was asked if he's ready to play for next season's opening game. "That's the challenge. With the tendon, there's really only but so much you can do. There's a certain amount of time that they deem necessary for the tendon to heal where you don't overstretch it and now you never get that spring back.

The Lakers star shared his experience dealing with his first major injury in his career, believing that patience will be the key to his successful rehab.

"So, you just have to be patient, let the tendon heal, and then when that moment comes when they say, 'OK, we can take off the regulator so to speak and now it's on you to train as hard as you can to get back to where you want to be,' that's going to be a good day," Bryant added.

In the interview, Bryant also gave his take on what appears to be another chapter in Dwight Howard's free-agency dilemma. Apparently, Kobe wants Howard to stay put despite his failure to live up to expectation in his first season with the Lakers.

"For me, you kind of let him do his due diligence and then move in and talk to him and figure out if this is a place he wants to be," Bryant said. "We all want him here. But then that's when the selling begins [after Howard is courted by other teams]. You don't start the selling process right before he goes and does all this stuff. You want to get the last word. You want to have the final word and the closing argument," said Bryant.

Howard is widely expected to lead a solid crop of free-agents, which includes Chris Paul, Andrei Iguadala, Josh Smith and J.R Smith. Teams are still barred to make an offer until July 1, but sources indicated that the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets are contending for the service of the perennial All-Star and All-NBA center.