This episode appears to be based on several different cases/incidents:
- The 1993 Michael Jordan gambling scandal.
- The 1993 James Raymond Jordan, Sr. murder case. On July 23, 1993, while returning from a funeral, eight days before his 57th birthday, Jordan--the father of basketball superstar Michael Jordan--pulled over on US Highway 74 just south of Lumberton, North Carolina, to take a nap. Daniel Andre Green and Larry Martin Demery spotted the car--a red Lexus SC400 with a North Carolina license plate that read "UNC0023"--a car that Michael had recently purchased for him. Green and Demery shot James Jordan to death while he slept in his car, then stole the vehicle. Nearly two weeks later, James Jordan's body was found on August 3 in a swamp in Bennettsville, South Carolina. Because the body was extremely decomposed, it was not positively identified until August 13 with the help of dental records. The media initially tried to link James' death to Michael Jordan's alleged gambling problems, but James Jordan had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. His killers were both sentenced to life in prison.
- The supporting antagonist is inspired by James "Slim" Boulder.
Claire Kincaid speaks to former player Drew Harding as someone who may know about Pat Williams' off-field habits. Harding is played by Keith Hernandez, a five time All Star for the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, who was known as a hard partier himself.
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) & Malik Yoba (Pat Williams) also worked together on Everything Is Ending (2013) (episode 5.1), as Peter Florrick & Eddie Fornum respectively.