Both Chris Bosh and Juwan Howard of the Miami Heat agree that Derrick Rose should win the Most Valuable Player Award for the NBA instead of LeBron James.

According to statements made by Bosh on the “Silvy & Waddle Show” on WMVP-AM, Bosh believes that Rose represents the real meaning of the MVP award, whereas James does not.

Following a shootaround practice at the United Center on Thursday, Bosh stated, “Just looking at what he’s done with his team and looking at their record and how improved they are as a team and how improved he is as a player, I think it’s close. But I would give it to Derrick if I had a vote. He’s playing well. He’s playing like the best point guard in the league and the best player in the league. He’s The most valuable player, if you really think about it. You take him out of the lineup , there’s no telling what you’d get.”

For the year, Rose has an average of 25 points per game to go along with 8.2 assists. His team, the Chicago Bulls lost the only game in which Rose was unable to play. This was on November 26 against the Denver Nuggets when Carmelo Anthony won the game on a last minute buzzer-beater that gave the Nuggets a 98-97 victory. The Bulls, who have a record of 38-16, were without both Rose and Carolos Boozer that night. C.J. Watson, who is Rose’s substitute, went 11-22 from the floor for 33 points and 3 assists.

Howard, who was questioned about the MVP situation again on Thursday affirmed his pick of Rose. The South Sider, who was the leader of the Vocational team that went to the 1991 Public League semifinals, did say that his choice was contingent upon what happens in the last 7 weeks of the regular season.

Howard stated, “That’s only if their team continues to play at a high level and Rose continues to play at a high level. Rose is a guy who has put his team in a great position to win. They’ve been playing good basketball all season despite injuries and a big reason for their success is [Rose]. If he continues to [keep] his team in position to be a top-3 to -4 seed, I think he has a really good chance [of winning the MVP Award.”

Dwayne Wade, another player from Chicago playing on the Miami Heat team indicated that the race for MVP is tight but he would select James.

Wade said, “Derrick’s having a great year. I don’t have a vote. I believe LeBron is a front-runner as well. Those two guys…I’m going to be biased and go with my teammate.”

He also said that there is still a long ways to go in the regular season.

About Rose, Wade said, “He’s got to finish out strong. This is the time where you really start looking at MVP and see who finishes the strongest. He’s done great to even put himself in the discussion [this] early in his career. It’s kind of like Chris Paul. He was in his third year [in 2007-08] when he was in the discussion and Kobe [Bryant] won it that year. But [Paul] could have won it as well.”