Kobe Bryant hopes to return for Lakers’ game Tuesday at Memphis

Saturday was another day for Kobe Bryant to test his sprained left ankle, another day to gauge his progress before he decides whether to play after missing five consecutive Lakers games.

Asked after practice whether Tuesday’s game at Memphis would be a definite date for his return, Bryant said, “It should be. If not, I’m firing everybody.”

If he plays Tuesday, Bryant will have rested his ankle for 18 days.

How the ankle responds Sunday after more treatment while the Lakers take another day off from practice will be another key step for Bryant. By Tuesday the Lakers will have had four days between games.

Bryant practiced Monday with the hope of playing last Tuesday night, but his ankle didn’t respond, forcing him to shut it down for two more games.

.Bryant didn’t participate in conditioning drills Saturday, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said, but he was able to run in a scrimmage that Jackson said “wasn’t conditioning.”

“It’s been long enough,” Bryant said. “I felt good. Obviously tendons are different things entirely. It kind of has a mind of its own [about] when it heals. But today it felt very, very good. Hopefully [Sunday] I’ll be fine.”

Bryant said he was able to drive and push off the ankle, but admitted that Sunday would show how much progress the ankle has made a day after a practice.

Jackson’s view on Bryant in Saturday’s practice: “He looked all right. He was measured.”

Meaning? “This is an inch,” Jackson said, smiling as he held his fingers apart. “So you measure out how much it is.”

And how does that apply to Bryant’s playing Tuesday?

“I think it’s all how he recovers strength-wise,” Jackson said. “He was complaining about the fact that he didn’t get good elevation, he didn’t get lift. There were a couple of spaces out here where he did some things to try it out; and then how to feel on recovery.”

But in Bryant’s eyes, the practice showed him all the right things.

“I got that I’m able to play,” he said. “The ankle was still a little sore at certain points, but it went away. It didn’t linger or anything like that. So I was able to move and pretty much do anything I wanted.”

Bryant hasn’t played in a game since Feb. 5, when he limped through a loss to Denver that came on the heels of his aggravating the injury Feb. 3 against Charlotte.

Bryant first injured the ankle Jan. 29 at Philadelphia. He played four more games before sitting down.

When he does come back, Bryant said he doesn’t think conditioning will be an issue.

“I’m very fortunate. I’ve got these huge lungs,” he said. “Seriously, I’ve been fortunate in that regard. I can pretty much run all day.”

Vujacic injured

Sasha Vujacic suffered a sprained right shoulder Thursday against Boston. The Lakers said he will be out for a couple of weeks.

Etc.

When Bryant does play, it will be the 1,000th game of his career. He joked that he’s not excited about it because Derek Fisher beat him to it.

“He said, ‘I want to thank you. I beat you to 1,000 games,’ ” Bryant said. “I said, ‘If I knew, I just would have limped through the game.’ ”

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