Acording to model-view-controller approach a sprite is a representation (view) of an entity (model). This is more flexible, e.g. an entity can be represented by a 3D model instead of a sprite.
True, but according to OOP every seperate part/module inside a program is responsible for his own Model, View and Projection implementation. It just depends on the situation. Like Traveller said, both sollutions are good, but there will allways be cases in which the chosen sollution will not work properly.