Kobe Bryant has said that he might be able to return to action with the Los Angeles Lakers before the end of the month.

The shooting guard has practised for the first time this week since rupturing his Achilles in April.

The 35-year-old told reporters: "Yeah, yeah I can. I think there's areas where it still needs to get stronger in terms of the jumping and being able to plant quickly and change directions and things like that.

"Those are areas where you just have to get stronger, but I could adjust my game and play at a pretty high level right now.

"There's certain things that I used to do that I can't do now. I won't try to do them. You've got to figure out other ways. I just got to go with the flow and just react. If you have limitations, you have to be honest with yourself and self-assess."

The Lakers are 11th in the Western Conference with a 5-7 record.