The story is loosely based on that of Jennifer Capriati, an American tennis phenom who entered the professional tour in 1990 several weeks shy of her 14th birthday. By 1995, she had retired due to injury and burnout, admitting in interviews that she had contemplated suicide the year before. Capriati's father was widely considered to be the main reason for the shortness of her career. Capriati later staged a comeback and won three Grand Slam tournaments before retiring permanently in 2004. The Women's Tennis Association amended its rules in 1994 to limit the amount of tournaments players under the age of 18 could enter.
Lane mentions a Seattle quarterback with a million dollar endorsement deal. At the time this first aired, that would have been Rick Mirer, the second overall pick in the 1993 National Football League draft and the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Mirer would be traded to the Chicago Bears after the 1996-97 season, the first of six more teams he would be signed by before retiring in 2004.