The Unluckiest Players in Sports History

No matter how you shake it, a hell of a lot of luck goes on in sports.

Whether it's a player making a mistake that costs his team a win or an athlete who just can't seem to stay healthy, the success of teams and players isn't always due to talent.

With St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend—a day where everyone is supposed to have good luck—I figured I would mention the unlucky 13 athletes who wished it was the holiday every single day, because their luck is the worst in sports history.

Greg Oden

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Looking back on how things played out during the 2007 NBA draft, it's hard to imagine that the Portland Trail Blazers—who owned the No. 1 pick—actually selected center Greg Oden over some guy named Kevin Durant.

While passing over the reigning league MVP was some seriously bad luck for the Blazers, it was made worse by the fact that Oden just couldn't stay healthy throughout his Portland days. He played in just 82 career games in five seasons with the team due to chronic knee issues.

There have been some busts in sports history, but seeing as how Oden owns up to the fact that he's one of the biggest is sad, truthful and just unfortunate for a player who had so much skill in high school and college.

Ken Griffey Jr.

It might be a little bit of a stretch to call a guy who blasted 630 career homers, won an AL MVP and earned more than $150 million in salary unlucky, but those numbers aren't even close to what former MLB great Ken Griffey Jr. could have attained.

Playing with athleticism that few in major league history ever had, Junior was a perennial All-Star and the most feared player in his generation. He was capable of doing it all and redefining the position.

On pace to break the all-time home run record, Griffey's luck turned for the worst when he was traded to his hometown Cincinnati Reds in 2000. He had just 210 homers in nine seasons with Cincy—dropping from 32 per season in Seattle to 23 per season in Cincinnati—and consistently wound up on the disabled list.

Sure, he'll find himself in the Hall of Fame the first year he's eligible, but following his injuries, the "greatest of all-time" chat went quiet, making all of us wonder what could have been.

Yao Ming

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Much like the aforementioned Greg Oden, former No. 1 overall pick Yao Ming just couldn't shake the chronic injury bugs that plagued him—more appropriately, his feet and ankles—over the course of his career.

An eight-time All-Star who helped spread the appeal of the sport in his native China, Yao was one of the most dynamic centers the game had ever seen, capable of banging down low on the block or stepping out to hit a 20-footer.

Forced to miss 250 games in his last six seasons with foot and ankle problems, Yao hobbled away from the NBA at the age of 30 with career averages of 19 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. He played a full 82-game schedule just twice in his eight years.

Mark Prior

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The No. 2 overall selection in the 2001 MLB draft, former Chicago Cubs pitcher Mark Prior had the making of an ace for years to come.

Breaking into the majors in 2002 at the age of 21, the flame-throwing righty finished his rookie campaign with an even 6-6 record and a 3.32 ERA.

Everyone thought that he was just getting started.

In what turned out to be his only full, healthy season, Prior led the Cubs to the postseason in 2003 by going 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA, earning an All-Star bid in the process.

Unfortunately, arm trouble held Prior back, with him undergoing a full shoulder reconstruction in 2006 before flopping in several attempted comebacks and retiring in 2013 at age 33.

Want to know how this kid could have been? His rate of 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings trails only Randy Johnson among pitchers with at least 500 innings in major league history—unfortunately, Prior doesn't qualify for the all-time list, because he accumulated just 657 career innings pitched.

Sterling Sharpe

A five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, former Green Bay Packers wideout Sterling Sharpe possessed the skills to be a future Hall of Famer during his seven seasons with the Pack.

During that time, he led the league in receptions three times, receiving yards once and receiving touchdowns twice. He was a dynamic player who gave defenses nightmares as he teamed up with then-quarterback Brett Favre for an explosive offense.

Suffering a stinger in each of the last two games in 1994, Sharpe eventually had to retire later that offseason after two vertebrae on his neck were damaged.

He might be known as the older brother of Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe now, but he nearly earned the distinction in Canton had injury not forced him to call it quits.

Penny Hardaway

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As gifted as any player to come into the league in the past 25 years, when Anfernee Hardaway was healthy, he proved to be one of the best players in the NBA.

Teaming up with Shaquille O'Neal on the Orlando Magic in 1993, Penny averaged 19.7 points, 6.6 assists and 4.6 assists per game during his first four seasons, helping the Magic reach the NBA Finals during the 1994-95 season.

Establishing himself as an All-Star by making the team in four of five years, Hardaway began to feel discomfort in his knees, causing him to slowly deteriorate and miss games.

By the time the Magic traded him to the Phoenix Suns in 1999, Hardaway's career was already in decline, with him starting in just 180 of a possible 362 games during his four-plus seasons in the desert. He battled those same knee issues for the remainder of his career.

Since he never blew out his knee like others, Hardaway may have caught a bad rap, but he could have been one of the best ever had his body not gotten so damaged.

Brandon Roy

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With skills that seemed to come easy, it's no surprise that Portland Trail Blazers announcer Brian Wheeler referred to Brandon Roy as "The Natural" from the player's rookie season on.

Those skills helped Roy collect the Rookie of the Year in 2007, while putting him in the conversation as one of the best young talents in the league.

Earning three-straight All-Star trips from 2008 to 2010, Roy first injured his knee before the start of the 2010 playoffs, with the pain never getting better from there.

With little cartilage in both knees as he entered the 2010-11 season, Roy started just 28 games the remainder of his career, missing the entire 2011-12 season in the process and retiring for good after a failed comeback in 2013.

Looking back, it's hard to imagine how dominant the Blazers would be had Greg Oden and Roy stayed healthy and, somehow, were paired up with current duo Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Ki-Jana Carter

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While there are various reasons that an athlete might be termed a bust, I'm not so sure Ki-Jana Carter's situation should toss him in that pool of others who just flopped.

That's because Carter—who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995—never got much of a chance to prove what he could do on the football field, as he suffered a torn ACL on just his third carry of his first preseason game in the league, which never fully recovered and made the runner sit out his rookie campaign.

Although Carter did return to the field in 1996, his career stats were dismal due to a number of other injuries that kept him out for seasons at a time.

Who knows if he would have been a great back, but Ki-Jana Carter was certainly better than what his numbers say he was—he just had terrible luck.

Derrick Rose

Whether or not Derrick Rose will, in fact, come back from his latest knee injury before the end of this season remains to be seen. But, one thing that fans should admire is that he's putting in the effort to at least try.

Although D-Rose has developed a few critics due to his mega-contract with the Chicago Bulls and choice words from earlier this season, the guy is still one of the most beloved and class acts in all of sports—he has just had miserable luck.

A former league MVP, Rose will never be the same player he once was—even if he does return and play for 10 more years—costing him and fans a chance to be remembered as one of the best of his era.

That's a bold statement, but he showed to be a Russell Westbrook type before Westbrook went on the tear he's on now.

Bill Walton

He's in the Basketball Hall of Fame, but former NBA center Bill Walton's career wasn't what it could have been due to foot injuries that caused him to miss three full seasons and many more games.

One of the best winners the sport had seen when he came into the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 1974, Walton won two NCAA titles with the UCLA Bruins before leading the Portland Trail Blazers to their only NBA championship in 1977, for which Walton won the Finals MVP.

Resigned to nothing more than a cheerleader from the bench during his second title with the Boston Celtics in 1986, Walton lasted in the league until he was 34, but he only actually played 10 seasons because of the bad-luck injuries to his feet.

Seeing as how Walton is the third Blazer on this list, maybe there's some bad luck water in the Portland locker room that has been causing their stars to dwindle?

Gale Sayers

Much like the aforementioned Bill Walton in the NBA, former NFL running back/return man Gale Sayers might be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but his career was cut way too short because of bad luck.

While Sayers did play seven seasons with the Chicago Bears, earning four Pro Bowls and five All-Pro nods, he suffered a left knee injury after nine games in 1968 that would send his career on a downward spiral.

Leading the league in rushing up to that point in 1968, Sayers returned in 1969 to lead the league in rushing again, but he lacked his prior speed and saw his yards per attempt drop dramatically.

Another knee injury to his right side in 1970 proved to be too much to overcome, as the runner couldn't work his way back and retired at age 28.

Grant Hill

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The third overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft and former co-Rookie of the Year after that first season, Grant Hill was one of the many ballers who some believed to be the heir to Michael Jordan's throne.

Making the All-Star team in five of his six seasons with the Detroit Pistons to begin his career, Hill missed just 25 games total in that timeframe, averaging 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists.

Signing with the Orlando Magic before the 2000 season, Hill played in just four games his first year with the team and would play in just 196 games total for the Magic after they paid him more than $92.5 million.

Hill battled numerous injuries throughout his career, preventing him from ever becoming the player many believed he would be and limiting him in nearly every season after joining the Magic.

Bo Jackson

Bo may have known a lot, but he didn't know that he would run into some bad luck that would cause his playing days to end far too soon.

Arguably the best athlete in the history of sports, Jackson made one Pro Bowl as a running back in the NFL, where he was the rarest combination of speed and power before he got tackled from behind in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals that impacted his athletic career.

Making an All-Star team as an outfielder in major league baseball too, Jackson proved that he had gifts that everyone dreams of. But, because of unforeseen circumstances, Bo was forced to call it quits from pro sports by the time he was 31 years old.