Sports The 5 Most Injury-Plagued Sports Stars

If there were a stat for being injured a lot, Greg Oden would completely own that!

Portland Trailblazers center Greg Oden is big on everything except luck. After spending his entire rookie season rehabbing from microfracture surgery on his right knee, the seven-foot first overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft played in his first regular season game Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers'and promptly sprained his right foot. Now he's out for two to four weeks. We're not saying this promising big man (who's been compared to 11-time NBA champion and all-time Boston Celtics great Bill Russell) is cursed, but his latest injury continues a nasty trend (in addition to his knee problems, Big O missed part of his lone year at Ohio State University after having wrist surgery to repair a ligament in 2006).

While we hope the affable Oden has a long and productive career wholly unrelated to broadcasting or hosting a children's television show, we're concerned that he may be one of those athletes who never fully realizes their greatness because they're perennially hurt. Read on for five pros whose injuries get more play than their highlight reel. Don't hurt yourself in the process…