HOUSTON — Marcus Smart’s block. LeBron James’ dominant second quarter. Deandre Ayton’s relentless rebounding.

The individual performances in the Lakers’ ugly, but decisive, 98-78 series-clinching win over the Houston Rockets on Friday were almost too numerous for coach JJ Redick to focus on each one.

That collective spirit is also what makes him so confident heading into the Lakers’ first Western Conference semifinal appearance since 2023.

“For us to be written off a few weeks ago and to win a playoff series is a big deal,” Redick said after the Lakers polished off their first-round playoff series in six games. “And it just speaks to the character of our team and the leaders of our team. They didn’t let go of the rope.”

After winning a series in which they were underdogs for every game they won, the Lakers return to the scene of their lowest moment to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals beginning Tuesday.

The last time they were in Oklahoma City, the Lakers lost by 43 points. Their two best players sustained regular-season ending injuries, with news of Luka Doncic’s hamstring injury and Austin Reaves’ oblique strain coming on consecutive days after the loss. Still dazed from the emotional hangover, the Lakers lost their next two games.

“There was a lot of question marks,” Reaves said. “And just the way that we responded as a group, I think it just tells you a lot about the people that we have in our room. There’s no quit.”

The Lakers finished the regular season with three consecutive wins. They leapt out to a 3-0 series lead against Houston before letting doubt creep in again. After the Lakers squandered two chances to end the series, including a disappointing home loss Wednesday when Reaves returned from injury, critics wondered if the Lakers would really be the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 playoff lead.

James wouldn’t allow it.

The superstar forward dominated with 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting, seven rebounds and eight assists. He outscored the Rockets by himself in the second quarter 14-13 as the Lakers went on a 27-3 run to open a 19-point lead.

“We understand that he’s the guy that brings energy, but also we have to help him,” forward Rui Hachimura said, “especially you know, he’s old now.”

Hachimura didn’t try to suppress a smile.

The Japanese forward did his part with 21 points, including five three-pointers. Smart leapt for a jaw-dropping block against 6-foot-8 Tari Eason and drew three charges. Ayton had 16 rebounds, helping the Lakers outrebound the best rebounding team of a generation 54-45.

Ayton, often maligned for his inconsistent effort, has been a force in the postseason, averaging 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds while often guarding Rockets All-Star Alperen Sengun one-on-one.

“He’s been saying it all year: ‘Wait till I get to the playoffs,’” Smart said of Ayton. “It’s a different side of him that fans haven’t seen, that we expect, that we know he can give. He knows it and he’s ready.”

In his second game back from injury, Reaves had 15 points on seven-of-14 shooting with three blocks. He missed all four of his three-point attempts, still searching for his shooting rhythm after a long layoff. But the way Reaves attacked his treatment and returned before the typical four- to six-week timeline was his own form of leadership, Redick said.

Reaves sometimes left his house at 7:30 a.m. and didn’t return until more than 12 hours later. He drove all over L.A. looking for different treatment options. He did everything short of following Doncic to Europe, Reaves joked.

Doncic’s status is still unknown for the beginning of the conference semifinals. He has yet to progress to live play on the court, although he recently started incorporating movement into his on-court drills instead of just stationary shooting. He is still out indefinitely.

Without the star point guard, the Lakers could confidently turn to James to steer them through choppy waters. He averaged 22.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the first-round series. At one point during Friday’s game, Reaves approached him to just tell him his performance was “insane.”

“I don’t think you can say in words how special he was,” Reaves said, “not just tonight but this series, this year.”

In the locker room after the game when the Lakers prepared to break their last huddle, the lights suddenly clicked off. Players started bleating, serenading James with sounds deserving of the G.O.A.T. — greatest of all time.

Britney Spears reportedly left rehab Wednesday night, less than three weeks after news broke that she had entered treatment voluntarily after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. She’s due to be arraigned Monday on a single misdemeanor charge of DUI involving a combination of alcohol and a drug or drugs.

While it’s unclear when the pop star voluntarily checked herself into rehab, the public learned about it April 12, with a Spears representative confirming the move at the time. Spears’ most recent Instagram post at the time was from the day before. She or her team has since wiped all content from her account, where the 44-year-old mother of two regularly posted video of herself dancing in skimpy outfits.

She was charged Thursday in Ventura County with a single misdemeanor count of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug.

The California Highway Patrol arrested Spears in Westlake Village at around 9 p.m. on March 4 after fielding reports of a person driving erratically on the 101 Freeway. While the drug or drugs involved were not specified in legal documents, a substance was found in Spears’ car that night. The BMW was searched again the next morning at a towing yard.

Sources told TMZ at the time that pills believed to be Adderall had been found in the car. Spears allegedly procures the drug during her regular trips to Mexico.

“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” a Spears representative told The Times in a statement regarding the arrest.

The “Toxic” singer is not required to appear in person at Monday’s arraignment because the charge is a misdemeanor.

Prosecutors in the Ventura County district attorney’s office told CourtTV that they planned to deal with Spears’ case as a “wet reckless” situation, likely offering the singer the option to plead guilty to reckless driving involving alcohol and/or drugs, as opposed to DUI. Such plea deals are possible, the office said, when a defendant has no prior DUI history, has a low blood-alcohol level and doesn’t get into a crash or cause injury.

Spears could face 12 months’ probation, fines, fees and a DUI class, CourtTV said. She has been living outside of a long-running conservatorship since a judge terminated that supervision in November 2021.

A representative for Spears did not respond immediately Friday to The Times’ request for comment.

In a first, California’s police accreditation body is weighing whether to strip two LAPD officers of their license to carry a badge over a controversial shooting.

The officers, José Zavala and Julio Quintanilla, shot and killed a suicidal man armed with a knife in 2021. A civilian advisory board for the Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training, or POST, determined there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Zavala and Quintanilla used excessive force on the man, Margarito Lopez Jr., who didn’t appear to pose a danger to anyone other than himself. Members of the panel recommended the officers’ certifications be suspended or revoked outright.

“Even if it’s this late, the good news is that these cops might lose their benefits as police officers and they won’t be terrorizing the community anymore,” said Luis Carrillo, an attorney for Lopez’s family.

The final decision will be made by the full commission, which is expected to take up the case next month. If POST rules against the officers, they still can appeal to an administrative law judge.

The commission has reviewed other cases involving officers from around the state accused of misconduct, among them several from the LAPD, including a former homicide detective repeatedly arrested on drunk driving charges and a detective accused of purchasing a possible silencer from China.

But this appears to be the first instance of officers facing possible decertification because of an on-duty shooting.

For decades, California had some of the strongest legal protections for law enforcement officers in the country, at times allowing those who engaged in serious misconduct to quietly quit and find jobs in other departments.

That changed in 2021 with the passage of Senate Bill 2, which required police agencies to report “serious misconduct,” including excessive force, dishonesty and sexual assault, to POST.

This case is an example of what the accountability law was designed to do, and not necessarily a sign that POST is taking a tougher stance on police shootings, according to Meagan Poulos, an agency spokesperson.

The advisory board made its decision after deliberating at an April 15 hearing.

“In this particular case, the officers’ actions do not rise to a clear and convincing level,” the officers’ attorney, Leslie Wilcox, said during the hearing. Wilcox is part of a panel of attorneys for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the city’s rank-and-file cops. “Both officers expressed their fear of the imminent threat that they believe this victim posed to them, based on the knife and his prior actions.”

On Dec. 18, 2021, Lopez’s sister called 911 because she was afraid her 22-year-old brother might hurt himself. LAPD officers confronted Lopez outside his apartment building in Historic South Central.

For more than 10 minutes, officers shouted at Lopez to drop his 6-inch butcher knife, according to a report by then-Police Chief Michel Moore and POST’s investigation.

At one point, Lopez held the knife to his throat and made the sign of the cross on his chest with his other hand, prompting one officer to fire a less-lethal projectile at him.

After sitting for a few minutes on the front steps of the building, Lopez suddenly jumped to his feet and took four steps in the direction of officers. One shot him with a 40-millimeter round, which is designed to incapacitate people without killing them. Almost simultaneously, Zavala and Quintanilla fired their guns. Lopez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Moore and the Los Angeles Police Department’s civilian watchdog both ruled the two officers violated LAPD policies, concluding that Lopez did not pose enough of a threat to justify deadly force.

Lopez’s family sued the city, winning $8 million in damages.

Zavala was suspended for 10 days without pay, while Quintanilla was sidelined for five days, according to POST.

The case has been turned over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for consideration of potential criminal charges and remains under review, a spokesperson said Friday.

An El Cajon man who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl in San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to prosecutors, Samuel Melvin Cooper, 21, had driven the teenage girl across state lines into Arizona for the purpose of performing sex work. Text messages obtained by San Diego law enforcement officials revealed he intended to leave the victim stranded there if she didn’t make him enough money.

Cooper was arrested in September 2024 by San Diego police during a traffic stop in an area notorious for street-based prostitution, according to prosecutors. Authorities said he had been using his phone to track two teenage girls, one of whom was the 15-year-old victim and the other an 18-year-old girl — a common practice among pimps.

Cooper pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking through force, fraud or coercion.

In his plea, Cooper also admitted to sexually exploiting and prostituting another 15-year-old girl, with full knowledge of her age. Authorities recovered explicit videos and photographs of Cooper engaging in sexual conduct with the girl. According to the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, her birth year was his phone password.

“We won’t allow children to be bought and sold,” said Adam Gordon, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. “This sentence reflects the profound harm caused when predators exploit minors for profit.”

Officials said that after Cooper’s arrest, the first victim, a runaway, was crying hysterically and denied any involvement in prostitution. Her mother, in a letter to the court, said her daughter is still lost to her family.

“That letter speaks more powerfully to the lasting trauma of living on the streets and being conditioned at such a young age that your worth is tied to commercial sex than any attorney can capture in words,” the government’s sentencing memo said.

HOUSTON — LeBron James knew what was at stake in this first-round playoff series and that it was on his shoulders to meet the moment and have his teammates follow his lead.

James simply elevated his play like he has so many times over his illustrious 23-year NBA career, playing with a purpose and willing the Lakers to a 98-78 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night at Toyota Center.

His 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds is why the Lakers won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, over the Rockets and why L.A. will meet the defending NBA champion Thunder on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

James and the Lakers had been on the verge of collapsing in these playoffs, their commanding 3-0 lead cut to 3-2.

But the Lakers and James let the Rockets know they were going to stay the course in Game 6 by building a 25-point lead in the third quarter.

James began to assert himself in the second quarter, scoring 14 points on five-for-eight shooting, making two of three treys. He outscored the Rockets 14-13 in the quarter and it was his effort that put the Lakers in front for good, helping them build a 19-point lead that was never in jeopardy.

James was being a leader by example, something that increased on April 2 once Luka Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain) were injured in Oklahoma City and done for the regular season.

“I mean, I’ve done it throughout my career, for the majority of my career, but they still have to accept it,” James said. “I would say we were a totally different team before April 2nd and for them to accept the fact to allow me to lead them and kind of command them in a way that I think I saw fit, being an extension of our coaching staff on the floor, like I said, it means a lot to me.

“So, I’m happy I was able to do some things out there to make them understand that I guess I know what I’m doing at times and those guys, they were great in this series.”

Rui Hachimura let James and the Lakers know he had come to play, scoring 21 points on eight-for-15 shooting and a sizzling five for seven on three-pointers. Hachimura also had six rebounds.

Reaves started in Game 6 and Luke Kennard, who had started the first five playoff games and the last five regular-season games, came off the bench. Reaves did his part for the Lakers with 15 points.

Deandre Ayton had just seven points, but his 16 rebounds and defensive presence was just as powerful.

Smart was the defensive catalyst for the Lakers. He had two blocks, one in which he just raised up to swat a shot by Tari Eason in the third quarter while then falling down backward in the process. Smart scored seven points, but it was his defense that helped the Lakers limit the Rockets to 34.2% shooting and 17.9% from three-point range.

“I think we should be proud of the way we handled this,” James said. “This our first time in a playoff series together as a unit and obviously being (our) without MVP candidate (Doncic) and then without AR for those first three games … We had some obstacles obviously and I know they were without guys as well, but I thought we answered the call. I thought we answered the challenge and for them to allow me to lead them, that means a lot to me.”

James sat on the bench before the game started, going through his pre-game routine, mentally preparing for the task ahead.

He collected his thoughts and prepared to lead his younger teammates.

“I was just trying to immerse into the atmosphere,” James, 41, said. “Also knowing how the game is going to be high, it’s going to be low. But for me as the leader of the ballclub, I got to stay even-kneeled. Talked to some of the higher gods above, give them my thanks and just take a few breathes and get ready for the arena. I have to be even-kneeled throughout the whole thing.”

After grabbing his last rebound with 3 minutes and 17 seconds left with the Lakers leading by 26 points, James raised his hand to come out of the game. He left with 3:07 remaining having played 37 minutes.

When the Lakers entered the locker room after the game and the coaches and players got ready to huddle, they noticed the lights were off.

So, Lakers coach JJ Redick said every single guy was going, ‘baahhhh, baahhhhh.’

That was in reference to calling James the G.O.A.T.

“I mean, it speaks to his greatness. To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player,” Redick said. “You can argue all you want, and I really don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all time, but he’s one of, if not the greatest of all time. And for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s really … it’s baffling in some ways.

“The leadership aspect that I talked about, he just has this ability to set the tone for the entire group. And he did that again tonight and our guys responded. I’m really happy for him. I’m really happy for him.”

A child sexual assault case filed against Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler will proceed to trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The singer is accused of grooming, sexually assaulting and impregnating 16-year-old Julia Misley in the 1970s. The suit, first filed in 2022 in Torrance, claims he “used his role, status, and power as a well-known musician and rock star” to exploit Misley. The complaint also argues Tyler admitted to the alleged crimes in his own memoir, “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?,” where he refers to her as his “teen bride.”

Earlier this week, a judge dismissed most of the case, citing the statute of limitations in Massachusetts, where the pair lived during their three-year relationship. But they allegedly crossed state lines while Tyler toured the country with his band, including to California, according to the complaint. Because of California’s Child Victims Act — a 2020 statute that allowed a “lookback window” where alleged victims can file lawsuits regardless of a statute of limitations — a portion of the case will still be tried.

“This is a massive win for Steven Tyler. Today, the Court has dismissed with prejudice 99.9% of the claims against Mr. Tyler in this case,” Tyler’s lawyer, David Long-Daniels, said in a statement to The Times. “The court has decided that only one night, 50-plus years ago, out of a three-year relationship is allowed to remain.”

New York has a similar statute that was recently employed by singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in her case against Sean Combs. She filed a sex-trafficking and sexual assault lawsuit against the music mogul in 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, just days before the expiration of a lookback window.

The lawsuit against Tyler, who previously appeared as a judge on “American Idol,” claims he and Misley first met at an Aerosmith concert in 1973. According to the document, he “performed various acts of criminal sexual conduct upon Plaintiff that night.” At the time, Tyler was in his mid-20s and Julia was 16.

The alleged encounter was the first of many, the lawsuit claims. In 1974, Tyler was named Misley’s legal guardian and took her on tour with the band.

According to the complaint, he described the nature of the relationship in his 2011 memoir, writing, “She was 16, she knew how to nasty … with my bad self being twenty-six and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her. … She was my heart’s desire, my partner in crimes of passion. … I was so in love I almost took a teen bride. I went and slept at her parent’s house for a couple of nights and her parent’s fell in love with me, signed paper over for me to have custody, so I wouldn’t get arrested if I took her out of state. I took her on tour with me.”

The lawsuit also describes Misley’s alleged pregnancy with Tyler’s child, which ended in a “pressured” abortion.

In previous court documents, Tyler has denied the allegations and attempted to get the case dismissed.

“This reflects years of resilience and courage by Ms. Misley, driven by an unwavering pursuit of truth and justice. It is time for justice and for Tyler to be held accountable by a jury,” Misley’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, said in a statement.

The trial is scheduled for August.

Thousands of people took to the streets in Los Angeles on Friday to mark International Workers’ Day amid heightened concerns about affordability, immigration sweeps and the Iran war.

The demonstration, dubbed “May Day Strong,” kicked off in MacArthur Park, where a coalition of community, labor and immigrant rights groups gathered before marching peacefully to City Hall.

Thousands of demonstrators blew horns and shook cowbells as they held signs that read, “Workers before billionaires” and, “Justice for workers,” while calling for an end to corporate greed, the war in Iran and immigration sweeps. The crowds’ chants included, “No justice, no peace” and, “This is what democracy looks like.”

U.S. recognition of International Workers’ Day, also called May Day, originated as labor rights movements fought for economic fairness by pushing for better pay and working conditions.

The first U.S. rally was held in Chicago in the 1880s when workers were pushing for an eight-hour work day. Though not on an official government holiday, crowds have since gathered around the country on the first of May to celebrate the achievements and struggles of the working class.

In Los Angeles, past demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of people who voiced their support for immigrant workers amid controversial enforcement policies.

Friday’s rally marked the 20th anniversary of the “Day Without Immigrants,” which served as a general boycott in which more than 400,000 people participated to showcase their economic power in the U.S. and voice their opposition to a proposed immigration bill that would have made aiding undocumented immigrants a felony.

That 2006 demonstration happened two months after more than half a million people demonstrated in downtown L.A. against the same bill.

Much like the demonstrations two decades ago, organizers on Friday also called for a general boycott — no school, no work, no shopping — in an effort to demand that the country put workers above billionaires by taxing the rich.

The demonstration also touched on various issues that Americans have been facing including the rising cost of food and gas due in part to tariffs, the war in Iran and immigration sweeps that experts have said contributed to a shortage of agricultural workers.

Though mostly peaceful, demonstrators in L.A. at times found themselves facing off with the Los Angeles Police Department. No arrests had been made as of early Friday evening.

Zayn Malik, the former One Direction star turned solo artist, canceled all U.S. dates for his upcoming tour. The hitmaker was recently hospitalized for an undisclosed illness.

“To my fans: Thank you so much for all the support and love you’ve shown me on the album release and more importantly your love, prayers, and well wishes for my health,” Malik wrote Friday in an Instagram story. “I’ve felt it, and it’s meant the world. I’ve been at home recovering and I’m doing well and will be better and stronger than before.

“I’ve had to take another look at my schedule for the months ahead and have to reduce the number of shows on the KONNAKOL Tour,” he continued. “I want to make sure I still get out and see as many of you as I possibly can. I’m really looking forward to playing these shows for you, and I hope to see the rest of you around the world very soon. Big Love, Z”

While the “Side Effects” singer still has forthcoming shows in the United Kingdom and Mexico later this month, he nixed the U.S. leg of the tour, which was slated to kick off this July in Philadelphia. Other major stops included Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, Inglewood, Anaheim, San Francisco and Seattle, with the tour concluding in Miami on Nov. 20.

The announcement comes weeks after Malik, 33, revealed he was hospitalized. The singer didn’t disclose what condition he was suffering from, but on April 17 — the day his latest album “Konnakol” dropped — he shared a since-expired Instagram story that included selfies of the singer in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV.

“To my fans – Thank you to all of you for your love & support now & always – been a long week and am still unexpectedly recovering,” he wrote alongside the photo. “Heartbroken that I can’t see you all this week, I wouldn’t be in the place I am today without you guys and am so thankful for your understanding.”

The “Prayers” singer also thanked “all the incredible hospital staff of [doctors], nurses, cardiologist, management, admin and everyone who had helped along the way and continue to”.

Earlier this year, Malik performed his first ever seven-night residency in Las Vegas at Dolby Live at Park MGM.

In 1995, when the L.A. Metro system was in its most nascent stage, Ken Karagozian — then an amateur photographer in an Owens Valley, Calif., workshop — found his way underground to document the subterranean marriage between downtown L.A. and Westlake through Metro’s Red Line, now called the B Line.

From that came a feature in Life magazine, but more importantly, a driving principle: Karagozian believed that the construction workers, engineers and electricians who were subject to the whims of a city indecisive on the subway project were deserving of intimate documentation. The invisible many who built the pyramids and New York’s skyline never got that chance, he said, but the people who contributed to the historically controversial Metro D Line from Koreatown to Westwood would, if he had a say.

“When I did take photography workshops, they always said, ‘Do a project close to your home,’” Karagozian said on a call from his Agoura Hills residence. “I wrote a letter to [L.A. Metro], which said, ‘How can I get permission to photograph?’”

Days before the fires ravaged L.A. in 2025, Altadena-based historian and author India Mandelkern had a phone call with Karagozian, who was interested in collaborating on a project about the D Line. After publishing a book on the art and politics of street lighting in Los Angeles, Mandelkern worked on the L.A. Metro blog, soliciting interviews from Angelenos who seemed desperate for a line to the Westside.

After Mandelkern connected with Karagozian, their project had solid form: a photo book, titled “Wilshire Subway: The Making of the D Line Subway Extension,” about the history, conflict and people behind the scenes and underground ahead of the May 8 opening of the subway expansion along Wilshire Boulevard. (New stations will be added at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. In the future, stations in Beverly Hills, Century City and Westwood will open.)

A related photo exhibition, “Wilshire Subway: Photographed by Ken Karagozian,” is on view through May 14 at the 1301PE art gallery on Wilshire Boulevard.

This week, we chatted more with Karagozian and Mandelkern about their project.

After writing a book about the social history of street lighting, what brought you underground?

Mandelkern: Well, a couple different reasons. First, I was very interested in Metro just because I had worked there as the blog editor, and in that role, I got to explore so many different stories. I thought Wilshire Boulevard was one of the most interesting places, the stories of this rail-building ambition that persisted for so many different years, and what that says about Angelenos. Second, I think that we talk about L.A. as a horizontal city, and that’s certainly true. If you go somewhere like Tokyo, you instantly see that this is what a vertical city is, but I wanted to bring a little bit of that to L.A. There is so much history buried beneath the ground that we seem to forget, and once you start tunneling, you realize that it’s always been there and it hasn’t disappeared. It’s just pushed beneath us.

Of all the people you spoke to for this book, which one most influenced the way you understood what the D Line could provide for the city?

Karagozian: This was a joint venture between three contractors, and they each had their specialty. It was Skanska, Traylor [Bros.] and Shea. With Traylor, they were brothers and they were doing the tunneling. Richard McLane [chief mechanical engineer of Traylor Bros.] was very helpful in telling me a little bit about the history of Wilshire Boulevard and facts of tunneling. … All these different contractors impacted the project in some way.

Mandelkern: I always say Ken is one of the best construction photographers out there, but his specialty is really people. When I interviewed some of these individual workers, a whole different story came to light, and I realized that many of these workers came to L.A., started at the bottom of the totem pole, and through working on the subway have risen through the ranks, gotten promotions, become leaders, and their kids now work in construction. … It’s just so amazing that so many of these individuals are doing all this work behind the scenes that creates infrastructure that connects all of us.

There are many portraits in the book of the builders who created the D Line. India referred to the short lifespans of the workers compared to the marvelous structures they craft: Was it intentional that you documented most of the D Line’s visual history through the people who built it?

Karagozian: When I go down underground and after the stations are completed, to me, it’s the people that built it that should tell the story. I didn’t just want to get a shot of them from behind. I really like to photograph their faces. … When I photographed the workers from the Red Line, some of these workers from the middle ’90s are still working on the Purple Line. I’ve known them for years, and now their children are working in construction; it becomes a family issue. … Going down and photographing the tunnels with that lighting in that perspective, it’s always been so interesting.

Mandelkern: That just reminded me of one of the quotes in the book from John Yen, who is the VP of operations at Skanska. He said, “In construction, we work ourselves out of a job.” I always found it really interesting that, as we build, the whole point is to kind of disappear. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes in the essay, when James [Rojas] writes [that] when the stations are open, they’ll be shiny and new, but that will kind of erase all the memories and all the work of the people who’ve been doing this for all this time. This book really became a way to sort of remember all of these different people that have been working on these projects for decades and decades, even if they’re not really remembered in the official record.

As the D Line prepares to open, does it somehow feel like the end of a journey?

Mandelkern: This just [started] so many other things for me. Afterwards, I decided I really want to learn about the geology of L.A., and I found an interest in paleontology, too. I hope with any book that it just gets people curious, and it gets them to start asking questions. I think that “Wilshire Subway” does accomplish that. L.A. is just this bowl with all these different salad layers, and as we penetrate down, we learn more and more about our history.

Karagozian: It does a little bit. With May 8 being the grand opening, and as the stations are complete and they’re testing the trains underground, it almost feels like it’s graduation time. Time to celebrate the journey of going through high school, college, whatever. I am still continuing to photograph the [Purple Line extension], which is Rodeo or Beverly [Hills] station … Now it’s just the accomplishment of celebrating all the work that I’ve put into this project and going down almost once a week and photographing the process for so many years.