NBA TV analyst and former NBA coach Sam Mitchell’s list of the top five players this NBA season looks much like most everyone else’s: Russell Westbrook. James Harden. Kevin Durant. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and others.

But the 2007 NBA Coach of the Year doesn’t need fancy metrics to put together a short list of candidates that belong in any MVP conversation (not that the eye-popping numbers hurt the cause).

In fact, Mitchell refuses to penalize players who toil on losing teams. That’s why believes Westbrook -- who sits atop the KIA Race to the MVP Ladder for a third straight week -- is his runaway pick a month into this season.

To Mitchell, the facts that Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder lead the Northwest Division and occupy the No. 5 in the Western Conference bolster his MVP case. But Mitchell thinks Westbrook would have a rock-solid case even without that.

“So if he’s doing the things he’s doing, at his size, dominating the game but his team barely missed out on the playoffs and we’re supposed to hold that against him?” Mitchell asked. “That crazy. So for me, Westbrook right now, no matter how they finish, is No. 1. And I think they are going to make the playoffs because he’s not going to allow it to go down any other way. But with what he’s doing, the points, rebounds, assists and the impact he’s having on that team every night, the winning ... that they lost Kevin Durant and they still lead that division, you’ve got to go with Russ at No. 1.”