Kobe Bryant is eager to prove his doubters wrong but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar conceded on Tuesday that he is still "weeks away" from making his return from a seven-month layoff.

Bryant, who recently signed a $48.5-million two-year contract extension with the Lakers, said that he needs more practices to test his surgically-repaired Achilles before making his much-awaited return.

"I need some more practices to kind of be able to measure it and test it and some of the limitations that I had in the first couple of practices, kind of come back and see if they're still there, if they're not," Bryant said in an interview with David McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles.

Bryant averaged 45.5 minutes in his final seven games last season. The 35-year-old is expected to play fewer minutes this season and the Lakers could also implement minute restrictions once he returns. Bryant said that he is open to playing limited minutes as long as it would put them in better position to win a title this season.

"I'm comfortable with that, for sure," Bryant said when asked about the possibility of playing restricted minutes. "The goal is to win a championship and put ourselves in position to win a championship. I feel like we have some really good pieces, guys who are really competitive and athletic and have the energy where they can carry a game and I think that they've been showing that."

The 15-time NBA All-Star also vowed to play at the highest level possible every game to give back to the Lakers organization, which has been very good to Bryant as shown by the lucrative two-year extension offered to Bryant.

Bryant's two-year contract extension was criticized by NBA experts and fans, but Bryant declared that he is ready to prove that the Lakers made the right decision.

"It makes me want to run through a wall for them. It kind of just adds more fuel to the fire of being able to come out and kind of prove to everybody that [the Lakers] are right and everybody else is wrong," Bryant said.

Bryant, who averaged 27.3 points and 6.0 assists last season, is set to receive $30.5 million this season, $23.5 million in the first year of the extension, and $25 million in the second year, retaining his status as the league's highest paid player.