Slaven Bilic contrasted Michail Antonio's dedication with Dimitri Payet's after the former played a starring role in their victory over Crystal Palace despite having flu.
Payet was left out of West Ham's squad after demanding to leave the club and, according to Bilic, refusing to play in order to force through a deal.
Antonio, on the other hand, turned in another excellent display for the Hammers in their 3-0 victory despite feeling unwell the night before the clash at London Stadium.
Sofiane Feghouli, Andy Carroll and Manuel Lanzini scored for West Ham in a much-needed home triumph, with Antonio supplying assists on all three goals.
"Payet is a great player so you are losing quality, but the team showed it is about the team and not individuals," Bilic is reported as saying by the BBC. "This is a great example for that.
"So let's talk about Carroll, or Darren Randolph, or Mark Noble. Michail Antonio had flu and a temperature of 38.4C last night. He showed brilliant determination, brilliant quality.
"That's what I want to talk about."
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady also appeared to take aim at Payet on Twitter in the aftermath of the win over former manager Sam Allardyce.
"Michail Antonio was in bed with flu yesterday, got out of bed, pulled on his shirt and played magnificently today - that's dedication for you," she tweeted.
Allardyce, meanwhile, admitted Palace were lacking the fortitude needed to get results in the Premier League after a loss that left them outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Gestede sets unwanted Premier League record
"We don't have the capability to make sure we don't lose," he explained. "That's the first thing to put right at a struggling club and at the moment we don't know how to get that result.
"Today after 70 minutes we didn't look in any real trouble, but once we gifted them the first goal we lost our shape and our discipline."