At this point, I've accepted that Westbrook will win MVP. He worked very hard this season and did many amazing things on the floor, so I can't say he doesn't deserve it. I just think there were guys who did more to help their teams win games this season.
I'm going to paraphrase what Zach Lowe said on his podcast with Kevin Arnovitz this week.
Basically, Russ was not playing basketball so much as he was playing Russ-ball each night. It's a different sport. Very very impressive, but not the same thing as being a great basketball player, because basketball is a team sport.
What this comes down to is belief in a fundamental element of the sport that we love.
Either you believe that there is a cost to Westbrook dominating the ball and taking a million shots every game, or you don't. Either you think this sport is about individual brilliance and Westbrook is doing everything he can to help his team, or you believe that part of being a great player is lifting the players around you by involving them in the action.
I believe that Westbrook's play style has had a negative effect of the development of his teammates, individually and as a unit. But I can't "prove" it exactly, so I don't expect anybody who doesn't share that basic belief about the game to change to my way of thinking.
Something Kevin Arnovitz said was a pretty valuable point as well:
One way to evaluate the value of players would be to look at the value of their median or most average possession, as opposed to just thinking of their most spectacular plays.
That tends to favor a guy like Kawhi Leonard or Harden, as opposed to Westbrook. Westbrook has many great plays, but I think what sticks out for people is the absolutely unbelievable force-of-nature plays he makes, as opposed to the ho-hum offensive and defensive possessions that make up the bulk of his time on the floor. For Westbrook, that's a lot of lackadaisical play on the defense end, and a lot of pull-up mid-range jumpers on the offensive end.