@latimes

While the spread of the coronavirus accelerates in much of the nation, California is enjoying a moment of relief, as COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths have dropped to the lowest levels in months. The average number of deaths logged daily in the state is 57, the lowest since May, according to a rolling seven-day average calculated by The Times. In addition, fewer patients are in the hospital with COVID-19 — 2,209 as of Saturday — than there have been since April 2. The state’s positivity rate, a measure of tests for the virus that come back positive, is 2.6%, an all-time low, according to state data. Read more about the latest numbers via our link in bio. ✍️: @soumyakar 📸: @myung_chun

At least 76 people were arrested in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday night following the Lakers’ championship win. The said the arrests included suspicion of vandalism, unlawful assembly and failure to disperse after a crowd of more than 1,000 converged near Staples Center following the team’s 106-93 win against the in Orlando, Fla., its 17th NBA championship title.

From 2017 to 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department fielded more than 2,200 unauthorized force complaints against officers. Not a single one was recorded as having been filed by a fellow officer, according to department records. Read more in the link in our bio.

As current and former doctors in Los Angeles County’s public hospital system condemn delays in providing specialist care, regulators have launched a review of the long, sometimes deadly waits faced by patients who need treatment from one of the nation’s largest public health systems. The actions come in the wake of a Times investigation that found patients of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services face agonizing delays to see specialists after referrals from primary care providers, leaving many with intolerable pain, worsening illnesses and a growing sense of hopelessness. Read more in the link in our bio.

The Lakers are Champions again. Here are the front pages of our sports and news sections Monday, the day after the Lakers clinched their 17th NBA title.

This is the moment the Lakers defeated the Heat to win the 2020 NBA Championship. Fans gathered near the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles to watch Game 6 together and celebrated when the team won their 17th title. Read more about the Lakers first championship in 10 years via our link in bio. 🎥: @stevesaldivar

From the heavens, they were touched. To the heavens, they have soared. On the wings of the fallen Kobe Bryant and the prayers of a restless city, the Lakers have once again reached basketball’s glorious peak. The real hero of the Laker title run, however, could be found in the clothing they wore and the name they chanted. The biggest star was the memory of the late Kobe Bryant, whose spirit hovered over everything and whose influence was felt everywhere. Read more about Kobe’s legacy via our link in bio. ✍️: Bill Plashke 📸: @apnews

💜💛🏀🎉🏆LAKERS WIN 🏆🎉🏀💛💜 After a 10 year championship drought, the tragic loss of the G.O.A.T. Kobe Bryant and a pandemic that pushed the league into a "bubble," the Lakers have won the 2020 NBA title. The Lakers defeated the Heat in 6 games to clinch the franchise's 17th NBA championship. For parts of game 6, the Lakers had a 30 point lead, the second-largest point differential in playoff history. Read more about the Lakers historic season and championship win via our link in bio. 📸: @ Wally Skalij 🎨: @nicoletogo

The rippling effects of a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan raging in more than 7,000 miles away from L.A. are felt deeply by members of the Armenian diaspora in Southern California. Many are descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide, when nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. They feel compelled to help the effort overseas where they still have many family members. “I usually don’t mix politics with business, but this is so personal that I would feel like a fool if I didn’t contribute back to my people,” said Armen Piskoulian, the chef-owner of Oui Melrose and Tony Khachapuri in Hollywood. Read about how Piskoulian and other Armenian-Americans are encouraging support for Armenia via our link in bio. ✍️: @jenn_harris_ 📸: @therealchristinahouse

California prisons have taken drastic measures to combat the coronavirus, halting rehab treatment, religious services and educational classes. While much of the state shut down this spring, Robbie Hall stitched face masks for 12 hours a day in a sewing factory at a women’s prison. For weeks, incarcerated women said they churned out masks by the thousands but were forbidden from wearing them. Then it happened. In early May, COVID-19 broke out in the sewing factory, infecting at least four incarcerated workers. Amid the drive for production, factories continued to operate even as infections rose, according to interviews with more than 30 inmates at the women’s prison in Chino and at Avenal State Prison for men, including some who became infected with COVID-19. Prison labor supporters say it helps defray costs of incarceration and reduces recidivism. But scholars and advocates have long criticized prison labor as exploitative and part of the historical legacy of slavery — an injustice only magnified by COVID-19. Read more via our link in bio. ✍️ : Kiera Feldman 🎨 : Alex Tatusian

We made some fun filters and stickers so you can show off when you vote early. Visit our link in bio and get a tutorial in our highlights.

Our reporter, @danwoikesports, managed to capture a photo of @jimmybutler during Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the @lakers that was widely shared on social media. He writes, “In the fourth quarter, Butler drew a foul and just kind of slowly stumbled over to the barrier. As he put his head down, I could hear teammate Duncan Robinson calmly tell Butler to take his time. Rest. By then, everyone in the building knew what was happening — that Butler was carrying Miami and it was exhausting for him. I pulled out my phone and took one picture and right away I knew it was a special image, the thing that captured the night as good as any words would. I tweeted it with a one-word caption: ‘Monster.’ If Butler said anything back to Robinson, it was a whisper. He looked so tired that the Heat had to call a timeout to get him a few more minutes. It worked. He made the free throws, the Heat won the game, and my iPhone took a photo I’ll always remember.”