Jon Cooper revealed a surprising motivator for Tampa Bay this season....Virginia's basketball team

BarDown Staff

ESPN

The Tampa Bay Lightning went from a meme last year after having the best regular season of all-time and getting swept in the first round to winning the Stanley Cup during an unprecedented season.

No asterisk on this Stanley Cup. A heck of an achievement by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the bubble. The shock of that sweep series loss in April 2019 is a distant memory. This is what a 62-win team indeed looks like. They are the best. They are the champs.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 29, 2020

There were probably more than a few sources of motivation for this Tampa team, but as head coach Jon Cooper revealed after winning the Cup, one of those sources was....Virginia basketball.

Really appreciate @TBLightning head coach Jon Cooper joining SVP after winning The Stanley Cup pic.twitter.com/4Pczwt2yqL
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) September 29, 2020

In 2018, Virginia became the first #1 seed to lose in the first round of the tournament to a #16 seed. The following year, they won the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

“Congratulations to Coach Jon and the @TBLightning on winning the Stanley Cup! Awesome. What a great story! Also, that UVA ball cap looks great on you. Go Lightning! Go Hoos!” 🔶⚔️🔷 - Coach TB pic.twitter.com/R2XRg6weSb
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) September 29, 2020

Teams and players can draw motivation from anywhere, and to hear Cooper talk about using a similar story in another sport as motivation is very powerful.

(H/T: Stanford Steve)