Paige Bueckers spurned the WNBA for a fifth season with the UConn women’s basketball program in 2024, hoping to enjoy a fully healthy season with the Huskies and win her first national title.

The star point guard found very little enjoyment in Storrs by the midpoint of UConn’s season, however, as the Huskies reeled from three surprising nonconference losses while her relationship with head coach Geno Auriemma intensified. Apple TV’s “The Dynasty: UConn Huskies” three-part docuseries, which premiered on the streaming platform Friday morning, offered a behind-the-scenes look at the discord between Bueckers and Auriemma within UConn’s locker room.

“With me and coach, it was, like, probably a couple of weeks of us not talking to each other,” Bueckers recalled in the docuseries. “Just showing up to practice and existing.”

Auriemma corroborated Bueckers’ account in the docuseries, adding some insight into his frustration with UConn’s fifth-year superstar.

“Now we’re not talking to each other,” Auriemma added. “If you don’t want to be coached, and you think that you can do this by yourself, then go ahead. I’m not going to lose the rest of the team because I’m spending all of my energy trying to coach you.”Auriemma’s frustration with Bueckers and the team peaked during a February road trip to Tennessee, where they faced a Lady Volunteers squad that had just snapped a three-game losing streak in SEC play. UConn led throughout the first half, but a 17-2 third-quarter run permanently tipped the scales in Tennessee’s favor, consigning the Huskies to their first loss in the rivalry since 2007.

After returning to Storrs, Auriemma lashed out at Bueckers the following afternoon during the team’s film session – the point guard finished just 5-of-16 from the floor against Tennessee. Auriemma’s criticisms quickly turned personal, questioning Bueckers’ status as a leader on the UConn roster.

“The film session was brutal; he really got after me in front of my teammates,” Bueckers said. “It became a little personal. He questioned who I was as a human. He said, ‘Why would my teammates follow me? Why would I be a person they look up to?'”

Bueckers recalled that, at first, she struggled to understand Auriemma’s message and questioned whether she wanted to continue playing for UConn. However, the merits of Auriemma’s  motivational tactic paid off just eight days later as the Huskies returned to SEC country to face off against defending national champions South Carolina, surging to a 22-point halftime lead over the Gamecocks that helped secure an 87-58 victory and kick off a dominant charge toward the Final Four.

Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd joined Bueckers in the limelight during the NCAA Tournament as UConn marched through the early rounds and handed South Carolina another 30-point win in the national championship game to lift the national championship trophy. Auriemma and Bueckers shared an emotional embrace at midcourt during the closing seconds of this victory, the payoff for months of arguments and frustration during the season.

“That was just everything that we had been through up to that point, just the emotions of it and everything coming together. The times when we hated each other, where we loved each other. Everything me and coach had been through was embodied in that hug.”

Bueckers and Auriemma’s relationship defines the third episode of Apple TV’s docuseries, which catalogues the coach’s 40-year tenure with the UConn program and his unmatched national championship success. The series includes behind-the-scenes footage from the Apple TV production crew and interviews with many generations of UConn stars.