Law & Order has been on the air since 1990. There have been more than 500 episodes of the serialized crime drama. The formula for each episode rarely changes, but NBC writers find creative ways to keep its audience entertained. This fall they’re including the Kentucky basketball program.

Each Law & Order episode begins with a cold open at the scene of the crime. In episode three of season 24 which debuted on Thursday night, “Big Brother,” the fictitious victim is Nick Walsh, a prolific college basketball coach.

“It’s not easy going back-to-back in college basketball,” quips the coroner.

“Kentucky just offered this guy $100 mil for five years,” said the detective as blood dripped from the would-be Kentucky coach’s face.

They’re taking out Kentucky coaches on Law & Order! pic.twitter.com/lL5taq8csO

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) October 18, 2024

It’s unclear when this episode was written and shot, but it sounds like the Law & Order writers were inspired by Kentucky’s courtship of Danny Hurley. I admittedly do not know how the rest of the episode unfolded, but I’d be willing to wager a significant amount of money that they caught the bad guy who killed the would-be Kentucky head coach and stole his Rolex.

Another question comes to mind for this blogger, were the Law & Order writers taking a page from a local writer?

John Huang, the brother of KSR’s resident photographer, penned a fictitious mystery this spring: Name, Image, and Murder: The Court of No Return. In the book, head coach William Gallucci is murdered and seasoned sportswriter Kyle Sexton is at the center of the crime.

When things go wrong in the sports world, fans want to see coaches fired. For some strange reason, right now it feels like the world of pop culture wants to kill off the Kentucky coach. Thankfully for Mark Pope’s sake, this is all fiction.

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