Does Miami Ruin Athletes' Marriages & Christian Values?

Lately, "the Miami lifestyle" has come under fire for ruining marriages and tempting Christian athletes to stray from their values.

For starters, Shaunie O'Neal, the soon to be ex-wife of Shaq, blames her three year stay in Miami for her divorce. Shaunie recently told Essence magazine:

"Miami is a great city. It just wasn't a great city for our marriage. I know they say L.A. has its groupies, but Miami has a different mentality....Girls are practically sitting in their bra and panties in the arena....Apparently we didn't have a strong enough foundation for Shaq to withstand that type of temptation."

Wow. Are Miami women that much worse than women in L.A.? After all, isn't L.A. the land of famed crazed and silicon filled aspiring models and actresses?

One can only imagine that many of these women were also looking for a certain 7 foot, 320 pound meal ticket. Perhaps Miami was merely the destination where Shaq was caught red handed.

Well, Shaunie can certainly provide a valid perspective of a player's wife, but what about the athletes themselves?

According to John Salmons, the one University Miami star currently doing big things in the NBA, living in Miami for a few years nearly cost him his strong Christian faith. In a recent interview with The Journal Times of Milwaukee, Salmons had the following to say about his time at The U:

"In Miami, it's tough for a guy to continue his faith. I wanted to live a Christian lifestyle and I wanted to live the Miami lifestyle. There's some guilt that comes with that."

Salmons said that if not for some timely advice and guidance from the wife of the basketball team's chaplain, he might not have made it out of Miami with his Christian values in tact:

"The one thing [she] told me, and I'll never forget it, was, ‘If you can make it in Miami, you can make it in the NBA,' [and] I always took it as a challenge."

There is no question that the story of what might have been for John Salmons is the story of what now is for Dwyane Wade.

As a rookie, D Wade came to Miami as a devout Christian and happily married family man who was the face of restraint and responsibility. Six years later, Wade finds himself in divorce court accused of humoring one too many groupies, neglecting his children, and infecting his wife with an STD.

It is hard to believe that Miami's reputation as a hedonistic party spot with beautiful women would deter professional athletes from signing with South Florida's professional sports teams. In all likelihood, this is probably one of the best recruiting pitches used to lure free agents.

One has to account, however, for the possibility that at least a minority of pro athletes who are devoutly religious or happily married may begin to avoid South Florida for all of its temptations.