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Not satisfied
with the best record in the NBA and a big lead over the rest of the Eastern
conference, the 76ers also owned the recent All-Star game. Head Coach
Larry Brown and MVP Allen Iverson sparked the East to a victory that further
accelerated the Sixers' blazing momentum. This young team is hot, complex
and exasperatingly unpredictable, yet even with all their glaring contradictions,
they have proven they can win consistently. Let’s take a look at some
of the astrological underpinnings of their current run.
Allen
Iverson: Dual Nature
Gemini Allen Iverson, born June 7, 1975 in Hampton, Virginia, personifies the
nature of this changeable, multifaceted team. Finally maturing into his
prodigious talent, this man-child has come a long way in the NBA. With
both the Sun and Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, in the sign of the twins,
Iverson is everything this dualistic sign promises, and then some. Possessing
superb manual dexterity, lightning reflexes and an astonishing mental
grasp, he has been marked for greatness from his earliest school days
as a player. Unfortunately, the same goes for his evil twin, the other
Allen, who is something of a thoughtless thug.
Iverson possesses
all of the Gemini gifts and liabilities in one stunning package. As bright
and versatile as they come, he is fairly blind to his own limitations,
rarely letting an opinion go unspoken, particularly his most ill-considered
ones. His real undoing off the court has been his unwillingness to outgrow
a dangerous retinue. A newly-minted NBA millionaire needs to choose his
friends wisely, and Iverson has displayed a confounding loyalty to misguided
liaisons that borders on disregard for his own future.
Both wayward
and deft, he matures and comes around routinely, only to revert to type
when the evil twin reasserts himself and spawns yet another controversy.
You can’t help but love the process, as this charming and irresistible
rogue lives and learns in the public eye. It’s all good, because on the
court, he is pure magic and can outsmart and out-maneuver anybody in the
league. The NBA is his playground, and this Gemini came to play.
The
Eccentric Rebel
Iverson’s
particular brand of mental magic has been polished to a high gloss recently
by the current transits of the planet Uranus. Uranus, the eccentric rebel
of the solar system, is brilliant and unpredictable too, and has been
casting helpful rays in Iverson’s direction for the past year. Currently
moving through its home sign of Aquarius, at 20 degrees, Uranus is making
a fortunate 120 degree trine aspect to Iverson’s natal Mercury (communication
and thinking) in Gemini. Uranus spent the past year in a trine aspect
to Iverson’s Gemini Sun.
The trine
aspect forms a fortunate link between planets in the same element; in
this case, air. Air is a mental, communicative element, and while inspiring
and igniting his considerable mental gifts, Uranus also adds to that air
of unpredictability and youthful rebellion. Under this headstrong Uranus
influence, Iverson has not only raised the level of his play to a new
league standard, but he has also been caught up in a fascinating love-hate
relationship with the ultimate authority figure and ersatz alpha-male
of the 76ers, Head Coach Larry Brown.
Larry
Brown and Allen Iverson: Oil and Water
Larry
Brown is as “old school” as Iverson isn’t. Brown is a Virgo, born September
14, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York. A surprising number of Virgos coach in
the NBA, perhaps because they are drawn to the teaching and tactical aspects
of the position. A seasoned league veteran, Brown has proven his worth
for years, but never, in his long and storied career, has he been paired
with a player at once so full of promise, and yet so completely at odds
with everything Brown represents. These two aren’t just oil and water.
Their pairing represents an astrological challenge that only the strong
survive.
The signs
Virgo and Gemini form a natural square, or 90 degree aspect, to each other.
Even though both Virgo and Gemini are ruled by (linked to) the planet
Mercury and share a mental, mutable temperament, they really have to try
to get along because it won’t happen naturally. The square aspect generates
a series of obstacles and difficulties that force confrontation and demand
personal growth. Frustration and anger are a natural outgrowth.
Iverson and
Brown clash at every conceivable angle. Brown’s natal Mars, critical and
fussy at 16 degrees Virgo, is at an exact 90 degree angle to Iverson’s
proud, but divided, Gemini Sun. Brown is a perpetual irritant to Iverson’s
fragile ego, while Iverson instinctively challenges Brown’s every effort
to assert his tenuous authority. Brown’s methodical Virgo Sun, at 21 degrees,
is in another tight square to Iverson’s “wise-guy” Mercury at 20 degrees
Gemini. Every word is a challenge, but talk is cheap compared to 50 years
of living.
After the
initial and highly entertaining fireworks, over time their constant differences
have forced necessary changes within these two men. Brown is gradually
teaching Iverson how to be a real man, if not a gentleman, while Iverson
is upgrading Brown and his considerable coaching experience to fit the
post-Jordan realities of the new NBA. In the meantime, they keep winning.
It’s a painful process, but it is bringing out the best in them both,
and for the time being, their best is better than anybody else in the
league.
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