After the trade deadline where NBA team executives seem to be playing chess with the players as huge, living chess pieces, the players take the power back as the season is about to close.

As demonstrated by the Miami Big Three, players can choose to make or break their team. When you talk about the 'break his team' side, no one has more authority than Dwight Howard.

However, this time, he seems to be on the other side. He wants to help his team, and a fellow player by extending a Rocket-shaped lifesaver to save him from drowning in the sea of mediocrity that is the New York Knicks.

D12 talked to USA Today, and gave unsolicited, but very sound advice to Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks.

From USA Today:  "He has been in the league for a long time. He hasn't made it to the Finals and at this point in his career he wants to win. You can see it every night when he plays. I know he has to take a lot of shots and all that stuff, but he just wants to win."

I can't say (what he'll do). That's on him. He's got to decide. (But) he can't be what everybody else wants. In this situation, you've got to take your heart out of it...So I'd just say for him, take his heart out of it and think with his head and think about business."

Dwight was in the same boat last summer. He had to choose between the LA Lakers and the Houston Rockets. From a basketball standpoint, the decision seemed easy, But leaving LA is not a normal thing to do. In fact, Dwight was the first ever.

And in this case, he is right. NBA Players are first and foremost, basketball players. The standard for basketball players and all sports competitors' success is winning.

D12 carries on: "If you don't win, you're not going to get all the (off-court) stuff you want anyway. I saw that last year (in Los Angeles). I was in the biggest market for the NBA, and we lost, so those (companies) aren't going to be coming to you for losing.

So it's moreso about winning, and you've got to put yourself in a position to where you're winning basketball games and you're having fun doing it. Losing is not fun, and Melo wants to win."

Finally, Dwight speaks about his LA experience. It was a roller coaster that went from huge billboard campaigns asking him to stay to massive jersey burning in just a day. That was harrowing, to say the least, but it's something he had to face in order to get closer to his goal: "I know he has just got to do what's best for him. I've been through it. I've seen it. The same people that love you one day, if you don't do what they want you to do, then they're going to hate you. You've got to always remember that you've got to do what's best for you at the end of the day. If people don't like you, you can't stop that."

Great advice from Dwight Howard. Is it a thinly veiled recruitment pitch? We will only know when it succeeds.