The sound that anchors Martin Berg’s memory of his son’s childhood isn’t the swish of a net or the thump of a basketball.
It’s a faint knock on the bathroom door.
Not long after his wife’s death, he remembers sobbing uncontrollably as the grief he had spent weeks holding back finally crashed over him. He remembers the moment his 6-year-old son slipped inside, eyes wide and worried, and asked a question no child should have to ask.
“Daddy, are you sad?”
When Martin wiped away the tears and steadied himself, his eyes still red, to tell his son yes, Will Berg didn’t hesitate. He simply sat down and said, “That’s OK, daddy. I’ll wait for you.”
In that moment, long before he became the tallest player to ever wear a Wichita State uniform and long before he left Sweden for America to chase a basketball dream, Will Berg became the person he is now. Caring. Empathetic. Measured and thoughtful in a way few his age are.
Those qualities didn’t just appear with maturity. They were forged by what he lived through. Will grew up in the aftermath of tragedy, watching a single father rebuild a home from the inside out. He learned early how to read a room, how to recognize when someone was hurting, how to respond with gentleness instead of frustration.
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