Homecoming: Longtime ESPN Producer Kim Belton, Former Cardinal Hoops Star, Returns To Stanford This Weekend

Kim Belton during a game against Wisconsin at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. (Stanford Athletics)

Kimberly Belton scores against the Santa Clara Broncos at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. (Stanford Athletics)

Kimberly Belton (Stanford Athletics)

Stanford head coach Dick DiBiaso, Kimberly Belton (Stanford Athletics)

Belton (L) has worked on a number of ESPN properties, including NBA Countdown. He's consulting with NBA commentator Jalen Rose in this 2012 photo. (Scott Clarke/ESPN Images)

Coordinating producer Kim Belton has worked for ESPN for more than 20 years, and his company ties go back even further – to 1981 when he started his television career as a production assistant with ABC Sports.

One of ESPN’s leading producers, Belton has covered a wide variety of sports and assignments while shaping how events are covered through his thoughtful leadership and mentoring.

This weekend, Belton will produce the Oregon State-Stanford college football game (Saturday, 11 p.m. ET on ESPN). He’ll be joined in Stanford, Calif., by his commentator team of Mark Jones, Robert Griffin III and Quint Kessenich.

This assignment is particularly special for Belton, a Stanford alum and a former basketball standout for the Cardinal. Belton, who led Stanford in scoring for two seasons and was a three-time All-Pac-12 (then Pac-10) selection, was named to the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor in 2016 (see sidebar, video below). Returning to his alma mater for the first time since 2019, he reflects upon his time at Stanford, his television career, and more.

What’s your favorite memory of being a Stanford student?
Being on “The Farm,” sitting in White Plaza and watching the world – literally people from all over – go by. It was a slice of peace in a sometimes chaotic world.

I have always been intrigued by stories. When you travel, people want to tell you their story, and invariably they want to hear yours, which is why I still love what I do, telling stories in the sports space. That is what started me on this broadcasting journey.
– Kim Belton

What led you into television?
After getting released from the Phoenix Suns* five days before the regular season, I said it is time to start a career. I always wanted to be in the media, so I interviewed for a job with HBO through a Stanford connection.

A high school friend, Jay Kutlow, was working with ABC Sports. He told me to interview with ABC as well. I was offered both and took the one that made the least amount of money, ABC Sports. I loved the idea of the traveling that it afforded me.

I have always been intrigued by stories. When you travel, people want to tell you their story, and invariably they want to hear yours, which is why I still love what I do, telling stories in the sports space. That is what started me on this broadcasting journey.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: A second-round pick by the Suns in the 1980 NBA Draft, Belton played a few preseason games – and was the leading scorer and rebounder in rookie camp – but his pro career was cut short due to severe tendonitis in his knees.

You have broken many boundaries in your television career. Is this something you have always aspired to do?
I did not set out to be a trailblazer, but I was thrust into that role, being the first-ever producer who happened to be Black in the long and illustrious legacy of ABC Sports. So wanted, no, had to, yes! I knew that if I were successful, it would open the door to other diversity. So I set out to be a voice and an ear to whoever felt alone or somehow minimalized.

The more that you can show the viewer how authentic and how much fun you are having, the more they are going to enjoy that three-hour-plus ride with you. – Belton on mentoring ESPN football analyst Robert Griffin III, who values Belton’s insights

How important is it for you to now mentor and create opportunities for others?
For me on this journey, the importance of others is paramount at this point. On a personal note, I have done almost everything – Rose Bowls, Sugar Bowls, Mike Tyson fights, track and field, Olympics, and World Cups, to name a few. So, my joy is based on connecting with those that are, again, looking for someone who may have gone through a similar situation, that feeling of not seeing it, so how can I be it!

Griffin has discussed your role in helping him learn how to become a great broadcaster. How have you tried to coach him the past two seasons?
The more that you can show the viewer how authentic and how much fun you are having, the more they are going to enjoy that three-hour-plus ride with you. You are an entertainer of sorts, just like the Maddens, the McGuires, and the Vitales. But whatever you do, don’t forsake what got you here, the football!

What are you looking forward to most this weekend at Stanford?
This will be the first game this season that students will be in school for a home football game. Stanford is on the quarter system, so they just recently got back in school. To see and feel the kids’ energy will take me back to a time that has long since passed.