CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The second season of FX/Hulu’s Chicago-set restaurant drama series “The Bear” is one of the top streaming shows in the nation, and former Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski might as well be listed as a co-star.
The legendary coach, who retired in 2022, by our count appears in six out of 10 episodes this season, mostly on the cover of his 2001 book “Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies for Basketball, Business and Life.” The book is given to one of the show’s main characters, Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), by her father, as she embarks on opening a new Chicago restaurant with acclaimed chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White).
The book is first shown in Episode 3, as Sydney reads while waiting for food at a restaurant. Oh, cool moment, think most basketball fans. But then the book — and discussion of Krzyzewski as a coach — pops up over and over, becoming an important thread throughout the rest of the season.
