Since /usr/bin/python isn't necessarily the path to the user's desired version of Python (e.g. using Python v3 on macOS), it's generally better to get it indirectly via /usr/bin/env.
I had some trouble getting this working until I figured out that it was running /usr/bin/python, which is not the version that I use on my iMac (/usr/bin/python is the one provided by Apple; the version installed by Homebrew, which comes first in $PATH, is elsewhere.
Since /usr/bin/python isn't necessarily the path to the user's desired version of Python (e.g. using Python v3 on macOS), it's generally better to get it indirectly via /usr/bin/env.
I had some trouble getting this working until I figured out that it was running /usr/bin/python, which is not the version that I use on my iMac (/usr/bin/python is the one provided by Apple; the version installed by Homebrew, which comes first in
$PATH, is elsewhere.