For Kris Rhim, Philadelphia is more than just a city, it is home. The 2021 Springfield College graduate grew up in the City of Brotherly Love, attending Central High School before making the move to Springfield College in the fall of 2017. For the ESPN reporter, his most recent position is a long-awaited homecoming.
Earlier this month, Rhim added what is arguably the most high-profile sports reporting job in the country to his already stellar resume: ESPN beat reporter for the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I was excited, man,” said Rhim of the opportunity. “I was really excited to go home, to Philly.”
Rhim has been in the ESPN space since September of 2023, where he joined the network as the beat reporter for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. Prior to joining ESPN, Rhim interned with the Boston Globe following graduation before joining the Atlanta Falcons as a features reporter.
Rhim was then a member of the 2023 New York Times fellowship class before a brief stop with the Baltimore Banner prior to making the move out west.
This new position now brings him back to his roots, as well as a shift from professional football to covering one of the NBA’s most prominent teams with one of the biggest names in the sports world: LeBron James.
For Rhim, this move is more than just a career advancement, it allows him the opportunity to serve the city that shaped him. The new opportunity offers Rhim a unique perspective to work in a familiar environment as well as increased expectations in an ever-competitive media market.
“It’s a bigger beat,” Rhim said. “A lot more people care about the Sixers than the Chargers. Just straight up.”
Going from a voice that Chargers fans knew well, and head coach Jim Harbaugh had some discrepancies with, Rhim knows he needs to find ways to insert himself in his new environment.
“You gotta find newer ways to stand out,” said Rhim. “You gotta be comfortable yelling over people for questions and people bumping you and press conferences and all that. So, yeah, it’s definitely a new challenge, man. But it’s exciting.”
Despite the shift in sports, Rhim’s experience in the professional sports mediasphere has prepared him well for his highest profile beat.
“The Falcons job really gave me kind of a springboard into the NFL space, because I had relationships with team personnel and scouts and all that, that I wouldn’t have had otherwise early on in my career. And so it helped me in that way, and it was a good intro to covering professional sports,” said Rhim.
Rhim is now applying those lessons and skills in his new market while covering some of the league’s top stars.
For Rhim, however, career advancement remains at the center of the move. Despite the passion he has for the city of Philadelphia, he is looking forward to developing new skills while on the beat.
“I think just growing my career,” Rhim said when asked what he is most excited for in his new role. “It should be a job with, like, a lot more TV opportunities, so getting more comfortable on TV, and growing my profile so that I can, you know, become someone who people associate [with] being able to cover multiple sports, and hopefully do that, you know, one day long term.”
This ‘in progress’ mindset Rhim radiates reflects a sense of ambition that was present the moment he stepped foot on campus.
Rhim dove right in from day one. A former student athlete, Rhim joined the Men of Excellence Club, as well as serving as the student trustee and making the college a better place and better community.
Rhim also plunged into the world of social justice, hosting a podcast in collaboration with the Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame and Springfield College journalism professor Marty Dobrow titled “Liberty, Justice and Ball.” The podcast focused on the intersection basketball and social justice, combining Rhim’s two biggest passions.
While Rhim’s close relationship with Dobrow was instrumental in shaping his career as a journalist, he struggled to give just one person the credit.
“Obviously, me and Marty had a different kind of relationship because of the way he invested in me and the podcast we had, but all the professors in my time, Marty, Laura Dubowski, Kyle Belanger, and they all invested significantly in me, Marty was a little bit higher because of the podcast and everything, but all of those professors did so much for me,” said Rhim.
Rhim still keeps in contact with his old professors, as he and Belanger, who now lives in the Kansas City area, would reconnect yearly when the Chargers were in town to face the Chiefs.
But Rhim’s relationships on Alden Street extend beyond the communications department, as serving as student trustee brought him close with college president Mary-Beth Cooper. Although a few states away from home, Rhim was able to still get a taste of home, as following an alumni event in Philadelphia, president Cooper brought Rhim a Wawa hoagie, made to his exact specifications: A chicken tender hoagie with lettuce and light mayonnaise.
Rhim is passionate about the convenience store chain as so many southeast Pennsylvania natives so unwaveringly are, and never forgets where he comes from.
“Philly means everything to me,” Rhim said. “I love that I’m from there. I’m prideful about Philly, about Wawa, and everything about it.”
From hoagies to social justice to basketball, Rhim’s newest career move allows him to combine all of his passions and serve his hometown community, all the while pushing himself to be the best he can be.
(Photo Courtesy of Springfield College)