RandBall: On Jessie Diggins, the Timberwolves and doing the difficult thing

The paradox of modern life is that many of us are equipped with the resources and information to optimize ourselves.

We know that sleep, nutrition, exercise and healthy relationships, among other things, are fundamental to our well-being. We know that scrolling on our phones for hours and hours is not good.

And yet a lot of us choose to ignore what’s in our own self interest because, well, doing the right thing feels hard. Maybe even boring?

The Timberwolves, if we might pull this back into the sports world, are like most of us. They know how to be the best versions of themselves: a high-intensity effort and focus, particularly on defense, is their recipe for success.

And yet they only do it some of the time. They seem as exasperated by this inconsistency as their fan base, with evidence provided by a compilation of their own words on the subject in Chip Scoggins’ recent piece.

But I do think it comes down to this: Doing the right thing is hard, and the discipline required to play defense over an 82-game schedule is boring. They get bored and take shortcuts, but it only costs them sometimes. Other times, they lock in and win easily. The sum total at the All-Star break is a 34-22 record, which leaves a few regrets but doesn’t demand urgency.

It’s far less common to find a team or individual willing to consistently reach into that hard place to extract every bit of effort, no matter how monotonous it might seem.

Diggins delivered another competitive master class Thursday, fighting exhaustion and injured ribs to take the Olympic bronze medal in the 10km freestyle. The Afton native collapsed at the finish line, a scene that has played out in many of her best races.

While I am not naive enough to compare a regular-season NBA game to an Olympic final, the Wolves would be wise to learn from Diggins.

I get the sense that what we saw Thursday is how she treats every competitive moment — from a training session to a lower-leverage meet to a chance for Olympic glory.

Whenever I think of Diggins, I think of the “pain cave” — the term she applies to pushing herself to peak performance while blocking out physical adversity.

Her willingness to chase the hard thing sets her apart from so many of us, and she earned her reward.