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Russell Westbrook captivated the NBA world Sunday by breaking a 55-year-old record while lifting the Thunder to victory in the most dramatic way possible. After the game, plenty of NBA players took to Twitter and proclaimed Westbrook the MVP.

One player, however, disagrees.

James Harden, Westbrook’s chief competition for the league’s top individual award, said people are focusing too much on stats and not enough on wins. He gave his thoughts on the MVP following his own triple-double performance in Sunday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings:

“I think [team record is] the most important thing. I thought winning is what this is about -- period,” Harden said. “I’m not going to get in-depth with all that, but I thought winning was the most important thing. If you set your team up in a position to have a chance, at the ultimate goal, that’s the most important thing.”

Harden didn’t mention his name, but this is clearly aimed at those touting Westbrook for MVP. Harden has led the Rockets to 54 wins, the third-best record in the Western Conference, while Westbrook’s Thunder just picked up their 46th win and sit in the sixth spot in the West. While some think Houston has a shot to make the Western Conference finals and might even challenge the Warriors, most aren’t giving Oklahoma city a chance to get out of the first round.

We’ll get to see which team actually has a shot at “the ultimate goal,” as the Rockets and Thunder will face each other in the first round.

“It’s just another great individual stat,” Harden said of Westbrook’s triple-double record. “But like I said, my job is to go out there and try to get my teammates involved, try to build their confidence so we’re able to go out there and play and everybody is feeling good that’s the most important thing. If none of my teammates are feeling good, I won’t be anything, and we won’t be far as to where we’re trying to go.”

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has also been advocating winning over individual stats in a transparent campaign to give Harden the edge in the MVP voting.

Per ESPN, according to Elias Sports Bureau research, the past 34 MVPs’ teams have been ranked in the top three of their respective conferences in wins.

The call to history is fine, but not necessarily persuading. In baseball for example, for years the Cy Young Award traditionally went to the pitcher with the most wins, or at least one among the leaders. As advanced stats have become more prevalent, voters have realized that wins aren’t the best gauge of a pitcher’s effectiveness. Similarly, the American League MVP last season went to Mike Trout, whose team finished 80-82.

I’m not saying that Harden (or Kawhi Leonard, whose Spurs have won 61 games) isn’t the MVP. All I’m saying is that hanging your argument on “that’s the way things have always been” isn’t a good approach to your campaign.