Lakers' guard Ron Harper is a very lucky man. After playing three championship seasons with the Chicago Bulls, he's back in the finals as a Laker and preparing to collect yet another ring. Considering how many guys play for years in the league and never win a championship, spending their entire careers in the cellar on teams like the Clippers, Harper has been extremely fortunate to go from one championship team to another. He seems to have a knack for finding himself in exalted company. As a former teammate of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, he now suits up in L.A. with "the next generation," Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. Let's take a closer look at his birth chart to see how it is that he has been so fortunate in both his career and his relationships.

Blessed by Venus

Ron Harper was born on January 20, 1964 at 9:53 am, in Dayton, Ohio. The sign Pisces was rising on the eastern horizon when he was born, so Pisces is his Ascendant, or rising sign. The Ascendant usually influences the outer personality and the physical body or appearance, and Harper expresses that easy-going and sympathetic Pisces nature. However, we can't ignore the planet Venus, also in Pisces, and placed so close to his Ascendant. This Venus rising is going to play a very important role in his life.

Astrology has developed and changed throughout the centuries, but traditionally, certain planets were thought to be very good, or "benefic," and other planets were thought to be more troublesome, or "malefic.” Venus and Jupiter are the traditional benefic planets, while Mars and Saturn were considered malefic. The kind of benefits that Venus imparts often involve money, love and beauty, especially the kind of beauty that attracts the sweeter things in life. Venus often works best sharing and cooperating in relationships.

In Harper's case, his Venus is not only prominently placed at the Ascendant, ruling his physical body, but it's also in the sign Pisces, where it is traditionally considered to be strongest, or most able to express its full range of benefits. He was fortunate to be born with an athletic physique, possessing the necessary height to succeed in basketball. At six and a half feet, he's not freakishly tall, but actually fairly well-proportioned. His fame and his fortune start at his Ascendant, in his physical body. Harper also has the humility and compassion in his personality that people find so endearing in a Pisces. He is loved and appreciated for his charity work with special children, and has often said that if he wasn't a basketball player he would be a teacher.

Gifts of Jupiter

Astrology's other "benefic,” Jupiter, is well-placed in Harper's chart, too. Lest we give the impression that all is sweetness and light in Harper's world, his Jupiter is rising as well, and in the rip-snorting, wild-fire sign of Aries, where it packs a very macho punch. It is very prominently placed in his First House, and its influence is further emphasized by being very close to, or conjunct, his Aries Moon.

Jupiter expresses its benefic influences in larger, or more far-reaching ways than Venus. It bestows wisdom and freedom, often through higher education, sports or adventure. And people wonder why sports are such a big part of higher education! The two are linked together under the rulership of Jupiter. Jupiter often manifests as a professor, guru or mentor who can expand the student's horizons, and this is where Ron Harper has been particularly fortunate.

The common link between the Bulls and Lakers, the man who hired him away from Chicago to Los Angeles, is perhaps the greatest coach in modern basketball, the master motivator, Phil Jackson. Harper has been a part of Jackson's game plan for years, and for a player, it just doesn't get any better than that.

The two have a number of close links between their birth charts that have tied them together in their respective careers in recent years. Perhaps the most important link currently is that Jackson's Ascendant of 5 degrees Aquarius falls exactly on Harper's Mars, also at 5 degrees Aquarius. During their years together with the Bulls, transiting Uranus was passing over that part of the zodiac, igniting their partnership. Currently, transiting Neptune is at 6 degrees Aquarius, conjoining both Jackson's Ascendant and Harper's Mars, and joining the two men and their dreams in a legendary quest to make NBA history. As luck would have it, Ron Harper's sweet dreams are coming true!