The farewell season for Kobe Bryant was a physical and mental struggle for the most part but it had a fairytale ending. The 17-65 Los Angeles Lakers were cellar dwellers pretty much from the beginning of 2015-16 with many of Bryant's teammates young enough that they were still in diapers when he entered the league in 1996. Kobe averaged 17.6 points in 28.2 minutes per game numbers more reminiscent of his first two seasons as a gifted teenager coming off the bench. His 35.8% field goal percentage was the lowest of his career and the recovery time needed between each game was certainly the longest. Yet nothing could stop Kobe from giving basketball fans worldwide the ultimate going-away present. In his last NBA game in front of his adoring fans at Staples Center Kobe turned back the clock to his "Black Mamba" days erupting for an unbelievable 60 points in a Lakers victory. It was the fifth highest point total of his legendary career and he became the oldest (at age 37) in NBA history to score 60.

Presented here is an incredible final season Kobe Bryant game-worn home jersey from the Lakers' February 19 2016 contest vs. San Antonio. Kobe had 25 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists as the Lakers fell to the Spurs 119-113 at Staples. It was the last time that Bryant ever faced the Spurs and Tim Duncan who recently joined Kobe in retirement. The game will forever be remembered for an incident late in the fourth quarter with the Lakers battling to keep the score close. Kobe dislocated his middle finger chasing after a loose ball with 2:15 remaining. He immediately went to the sidelines had Lakers trainer Gary Vitti pop it back in place and got right back in the game scoring on the very next play. Vintage Kobe. Heart of a lion as tough as a junkyard dog. The media branded it the “Dislocated Finger Game” but we are calling it the “DMF” game for short symbolizing the dozens of times in his legendary career that Kobe has given the “middle finger” to injury pain and hardship on the court.

The jersey has several identifiable imperfections that can be clearly photo-matched in game images and videos. The most obvious is a pair of holes on the lower back the larger of which is easily spotted on the video (0:28) of Bryant getting his finger treated by Vitti grossing out a courtside fan in the process. Other identifiers include a 3” purple thread that has frayed from the left side section and a short white thread frayed from the back ‘Y’. These are visible in the provided images. Not that more evidence is needed but the mesh holes around the numbers and letters are a perfect match.

The gold mesh jersey has “LAKERS” across the chest in purple tackle twill with a white-stitched border. The player number “24” appears front and back in white mesh with a purple-stitched border on gold tackle twill. An arched “BRYANT” is sewn directly on the back in purple-on-white tackle twill with the NBA logo embroidered above. The front left tail has Adidas manufacturer’s tagging with size 4XL and a LENGTH +4” flag tag. Adjacent is its official NBA jersey identification code reading “LLA03047.” Inside the left inseam is the washing instructions and a smaller tag with the “05/15” manufacturing date and “F96233 AZB012” code. Inside the rear collar is a “4XL4” size tag and a “16X” tag with an image of the Larry O’Brien trophy. The jersey displays evidence of excellent wear with the aforementioned two small tears on the back and several areas of fraying to the fabric.

This "DMF" photo-matched Kobe jersey is one of his finest game-worn examples ever offered publicly and arguably his most noteworthy final season gamer to surface in the hobby. Side by side photo-matching images are attached. Thealready purchased high resolution Getty images will be providedto the winning bidder upon request.