Fans miss Paige Bueckers and Jana El-Alfy as rest of UConn's national championship team gets honored at NBA playoff game

The UConn Huskies, led by Paige Bueckers, are on top of the college basketball world right now with their success in the 2024-25 season. On April 6, they outlasted the reigning national champions, South Carolina Gamecocks, 82-59, to win this year's national title.

With this, they were presented during Game 2 of the first-round series between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic in the 2025 NBA playoffs on Wednesday. Several key cogs of the championship squad were present, such as Azzi Fudd, KK Arnold, Sarah Strong, Morgan Cheli, Ashlynn Shade and Ice Brady, among others.

Several photos from the Huskies' presentation surfaced on X, including a picture from Celtics beat writer Noa Dalzell. The college basketball world started to speculate on where graduating star Paige Bueckers and standout stalwart Jana El-Alfy could be given they were not a part of it.

Fans shared how they missed Bueckers and El-Alfy during the Huskies' celebration by the Celtics.

"No Paige :(," one fan wrote with a sad emoji.

"Broo KK looks so outta place without Paige :(," another fan tweeted.

"Where is Jana?," a fan said.

Other users all over X were happy to see a crossover between two recent champion squads in basketball.

"Elite college basketball finally returns to the city of Boston," one fan commented.

"Joe Mazzulla, thank you for sprinkling your championship dust on Geno (Auriemma)," another fan said.

"The Boston Celtics are dope for this! Thank you!," a fan posted.

The Geno Auriemma-coached Huskies finished the 2024-25 season with a dominant 37-3 overall record, and they were undefeated during the 2025 Big East conference with a record of 18-0.

Geno Auriemma and Joe Mazulla linked up earlier in the 2024-25 season

It was a meeting of champion coaches when UConn Huskies' Geno Auriemma and Boston Celtics' Joe Mazzulla linked up on March 19, as the Huskies were preparing for the 2025 NCAA national tournament that started three days later.

The Celtics and Huskies connection runs deep, perhaps, given the proximity between the two teams.

Mazzulla spearheaded Boston to an NBA championship in 2024, breaking a 16-year title drought for the franchise. The Celtics also won an NBA-record 18th title. Meanwhile, Auriemma and the Huskies snapped their nine-year national title drought with their most recent win.