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There are many arguments about the Jordan vs. LeBron topic. So many people have weighed in on this that it has become the # 1 debated basketball issue of the last several years.First we have to establish that two modes of thought must take priority .A. There will probably never be a definitive answer to this debate concerning who the GOAT is. Older fans and players may prefer Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, or Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Younger generations may choose Kobe, LeBron, or some future player. Different eras, different rules, and different emphasis on various aspects of the game, like 3 pointers, zones, etc. make it very difficult, and maybe impossible to decide who is the greatest. Then there are differences in roles, positions, pay, and other things which complicate matters further.B. Before we can decide who the greatest is, if there is such a person, we need to establish some criteria. In another post, I listed 12–13 measurements of greatness. I have since condensed this list to 10, and they may not be the same measurements, because my thinking has evolved on this issue.These are the common denominators in any sport that determine who is at or near the top of all-time greatest lists.Certificate of Achievement— A player’s body of work is always going to be directly tied to their career greatness. An athlete’s accomplishments comprise the greatest part of the measuring stick of their potential. So, let’s look at the accomplishments of Jordan and LeBron.Scoring achievements—Jordan has 10 scoring titles and the highest scoring average in NBA history. (I am assuming that we can accept the NBA as the upper echelon of basketball talent.) One scoring title usually means one has the ability to score at will and can put up many seasons averaging in the upper 20s and even low 30s. LeBron has won a scoring title, but was not called upon to score as much as Jordan. Jordan’s 10 scoring titles alone would put him in the Hall of Fame and likely cement his place atop the greatest scorers in the game, but his 30.1 points per game besting the great Wilt Chamberlain as well as his leading all NBA players in playoff scoring average set him head and shoulders above everyone else.LeBron is no joke in the scoring department either. He is in the top 4 all time in scoring average and is seriously considered as the greatest threat to Kareem’s all-time scoring mark since Jordan. However, we do need to make a distinction, because when you are debating who is the GOAT, it is the little things that matter, little distinctions or awards here, little detractions or knocks against you there, etc. It is debated who was a more efficient scorer.Supporters of Jordan say he averaged more and has more scoring titles so he is greater. LeBron proponents claim that it took Jordan more shots to get his average and overall total than it did LeBron, so LeBron is the more efficient scorer. His true field goal percentage is also higher than Jordan’s. Both guys hovered around 50% in classic fg%, with LeBron being slightly more accurate at 50.4, while Jordan was 49.7%. Really close. I am of the opinion that whenever scoring is discussed, and any other category for that matter, context is key. What Jordan or LeBron does in a vacuum means very little until understood within a broader framework.Scoring guards tend to shoot farther from the goal so they are not going to have field goal percentages as high as centers and forwards. Jordan, being a shooting guard, is going to shoot more, and also be forced to shoot farther away from the goal. LeBron, for his part, is going to shoot from much farther in. For his career, the bulk of his shots (46%) have come from 0–3ft. away. We are talking dunks, layups, and putbacks. He is shooting well over 70% within that range, which is highly efficient. Jordan has no comparative data for the bulk of his career, but he was one of the best finishers in the game and arguably one of the 2–3 greatest dunkers of all time, so we can assume he was efficient as well, but there is something interesting I noticed in studying the two athletes’ scoring as they got away from the point blank range. Jordan’s average dropped. LeBron’s plummeted. I say this making the assumption that Jordan’s field goal percentage was much higher during his prime. LeBron’s is around 35% beyond the 3ft range. In playoff games and in 4th quarter situations, it drops to around 31%.The only data we have for Jordan was the last year of his career, when as a 40 year old, he averaged 42% from beyond the 3 foot mark. That’s not great, but it bests even LeBron’s prime numbers. It should be noted that even during his prime, teams would back up on the King to let him shoot the mid-range shot or the 3 which he could not hit with reliability. No team in its right mind would dream of doing that to Jordan. Dennis Rodman, a defensive specialist for the Detroit Pistons at the time, would have two hands on Jordan out beyond the 3 point arc. LeBron’s 3 point shot (34%), is below the league average (35%). Jordan, who played in an era when the 3 wasn’t nearly as important, averaged 33% in a league in which the average was 33%. So, for his time, Jordan wasn’t great and he wasn’t terrible. I would say he was just slightly above average only because of two reasons. First, his most iconic shots were near or beyond the 3 point mark. Secondly, he broke a record in a Finals half for 3 pointers made, with 6.Finally, look at both men’s scoring accuracy when no one is guarding either of them. I’m talking about the free throw line. Jordan is a career 84% shooter. LeBron is around 72%, the lowest for a non-center who is in the pantheon.You’re so Defensive— This is one area many people get confused about. Some will say Jordan is better, just because he won Defensive Player of the Year, but that is not enough. One award, even one as great as DPOY, is not enough to give him the edge for his career. Some will say that LeBron was the more versatile defender. That doesn’t make him better either. Golden Corral may have a more versatile menu than Ruth’s Chris, but that does not make it a better restaurant.What we need is context. Who played at an elite or near elite level on defense for the majority of their career? Certainly, Michael Jordan’s Defensive Player of the Year award was him at his best and the league’s best. LeBron has never won that award, but he has come close. When all is said and done, we will be able to take better measure, but as of right now, Michael Jordan has 10 defensive selections, with 9-1st team selections. That means he was the best or second best at his position for 10 of the 15 years he played! LeBron has 6 defensive selections with 5–1st team selections. Nothing to sneeze at either, but not on Jordan’s level. Also, LeBron has led his team in defensive win shares 4 times. Jordan has led his Bulls teams in defensive win shares 10 times.Bill Simmons is a sports analyst who wrote a book some years back called, The Book of Basketball discussing the 100 greatest basketball players which he has placed in categories or pyramids. The highest pyramid is called the Pantheon. Simmons created a new statistic that combines steals and blocks together to determine their overall impact on the game. He calls his new stat, “stocks”. Michael Jordan is the highest stocks player in history. Hakeem and others do quite well in this unique category. The reason it is important is because it reflects the stats of two different types of athletes on defense. The whippet-quick speedy guards that pile up the steals, and the lanky, springy forwards that have the wing span to blanket the offense and snuff out shots with blocks. NO player combines those two singular gifts quite like Michael Jordan. He was the first basketball player to get over 200 steals and 100 blocks in the same season, then duplicated that feat.Is LeBron a great defender? He was for the first part of his career. He has shown that he could lock up nearly anyone that he was motivated to stop. A defensively locked-in LeBron, over his career, would be a threat to best anyone on defense— Hakeem The Dream, Pippen, Rodman, and even Jordan. And he can guard all 5 positions. However, LeBron has not maintained that elite status throughout his career. Over the last several years, he has not only dropped from the upper echelon of defenders, he has become a liability. He has scored near the bottom of the league in defensive rating and defensive win shares for the last 3 years straight. And he has rarely guarded all five positions. For comparison, Michael Jordan never was a poor defender. Even when he was around LeBron’s age, he was winning 1st team all defense. Remember, this is comparing each player to others in his era. So, LeBron faced several defenders that were equal to him or superior. Kobe Bryant was a better overall long term defender than LeBron. So was Bruce Bowen, Kevin Garnett, and Gary Payton. I believe Scottie Pippen was, as well. None of those guys was better than Jordan on defense. What’s fascinating is that most of those guys who played against both MJ and LeBron will say that MJ was better on defense. So, Jordan is better at scoring and defense.MVPs— The Most Valuable Player award is the one thing in the NBA and most sports that comes closest to naming the best current player in the sport. The guys who won the most, rightly deserve a place in the pantheon, right at the top of the league. Kareem leads everyone with 6 regular season MVPs. Jordan and Russell are tied for second, with 5. Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James are tied for 3rd with 4. Magic, Larry Bird, and Moses Malone have 3. A host of players have 2. An argument could be made that the award is subject to bias, as many guys have likely been robbed, including Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, and LeBron. But winning the award multiple times will place you very high on the all-time list, especially if you pass the 2-MVP threshold. An exception is Moses Malone, who won 3 MVPs but is rarely talked about.Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson all battled for league supremacy, along with Moses Malone, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone. None of those guys I mentioned are worse than 20th of all time. In fact, Kareem, Magic, and Larry are all in the top 6–7 all time! The idea that Jordan didn’t play against anyone that great is hilariously false. The 10 greatest NBA players of all time, by consensus, will include Kareem, Magic, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaq, and Hakeem. Jordan played against 7 of those 10 players!At this elite level, all-star selections, all-NBA selections and other MVPS tend to be more a product of how long each athlete wants to play rather than whether they are qualified. LeBron will have a few more selections because he played longer. Some will argue that a longer career is a better career. If LeBron keeps plugging away and collects a few more MVPs, all-stars, and rings, then that may change the perception, but for now, Jordan has the edge. He leads LeBron in MVPs, 5–4, Finals MVPs, 6–3, and total MVPs (reg. season, finals, and all-star MVPS) with 14, which is the most in NBA history. LeBron is second, with 10 total MVPs, followed by Kareem, with 8. Jordan has 6 championships to LeBron’s 3. LeBron has had the fourth highest number of opportunities to play in an NBA Finals. Throughout most of his career, LeBron has also played in the Leastern Conference, so nicknamed because it was not as competitive as the Western Conference. LeBron’s East has lost 2 thirds of its titles to the West in LeBron’s career.Jordan’s number of awards, selections, etc. look even more impressive when you consider that he did much of this in only about 11–12 years time.2. Durability/Longevity— As easily as Michael owns the accomplishments argument, so does LeBron take the durability argument. If ever there was a human being who operated as a machine, it’s LeBron. Until a year ago, he had never been seriously injured at any point of his career. He is in his 17th year with only marginal signs of letup. He doesn’t have the energy or the hops he used to, but he is far superior to many other players in only their 13 or 14th seasons. He is highly disciplined and maintains a strict health and exercise regimen.Jordan is not exactly a wimp, though. He had the second year foot injury and he retired twice, but when he played, he played hard and he played the whole game. Michael Jordan almost always played the entire 82 game season, whereas LeBron has only rarely played a full season. So, both men are very durable, suffering only one main injury in their entire careers. Still, LeBron takes this because not only did he have a longer career, his peak has carried farther. Jordan was in his peak for 10–11 years. LeBron is not in his peak, but he just left it, so maybe 15 years. Outside of the year he broke his foot, Jordan has been remarkably durable.This durability of Jordan’s may be what keeps LeBron from being able to overtake him, unlike other great players. Even still,The score is tied. One to Jordan for accomplishments. One to LeBron for durability/longevity. When it’s all said and done, Jordan’s proximity to LeBron in this area will help to settle this whole issue decisively.3. Lies and Statistics/Analytics— This one gets a little more complicated because we need to explain the reasoning behind certain stats or analytics before we can truly understand each athlete’s place. We have to give context because anyone can lie with stats. Most people who debate the abilities and greatness of players typically use the standard statistics, of which there are 8. These include:ScoringAssistsReboundsFree ThrowsStealsBlocksField goal percentageTurnoversIn a head-to-head comparison, Jordan leads LeBron in 5 of these categories—scoring, free throws, steals, blocks, and (fewer) turnovers. LeBron leads in 3—assists, rebounds, and field goal percentage. But we need to give this comparison more context. Just as we had to break up the scoring so we could better understand the statistics, we need to do so here. For example, we can look at Jordan’s scoring average and think that because he outscored LeBron for their respective careers, that he was the better scorer. That is not necessarily true, but we demonstrated why Jordan was better. He performed much better with respect to his position than did LeBron. In fact, it does no good to compare MJ apples to LeBron oranges. We need to compare them to others at their positions throughout the eras that the NBA has been in existence. Why?Because otherwise, we will assume that stats will prove who is better when they may not. For example, in the 2018–2019 NBA season, Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 5.9 assists per game. Giannis is primarily a power forward, but also plays shooting and point guard, so he’s a stretch 4. Darren Collison, a point guard with the Indiana Pacers averaged 6.0 assists per game within the same time frame. So, since he averaged a tenth of an assist more than Giannis, does that make him better? No. A point guard can facilitate and get assists more easily than any other player. He is in a much better position to find the open man, in more cases than Giannis, yet Giannis is in a statistical dead heat with Collison. So, we really need to compare each player to others within their primary position. Giannis is one of the 3–4 best passing big men in the league. Darren Collison is a solid, but average assists man. Giannis is most likely the better passer.When we do this with Jordan and LeBron, we can see that they both are very impressive, but one guy is clearly superior:Jordan compared to other shooting guards (all-time) :Points—1stAssists—4thRebounds—3rdSteals—3rdBlocks—3rdField goal %—9thFree throw %—34thLeBron compared to other small forwards:Points—2ndAssists—1stRebounds—12thSteals—9thBlocks—17thField goal %—17thFree throw %— 107thPut in context both men are very impressive, indeed. But Jordan is clearly on another level. He put much more distance between himself and other shooting guards than did LeBron versus other small forwards. So, whether we consider the classic 8 category comparison, Jordan wins 5–3, or whether we put it in context, he wins. The only category in which LeBron does better with others in his position, than Jordan does, is assists.Now, we could do analytics, but I am afraid that this would just skew Jordan’s way as well, but let’s try it. John Hollinger created a metric that attempts to determine the most efficient athletes in the game. It’s called Player Efficiency Rating, or PER. It condenses all of a players positive and negatives into one number. A player’s points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks are added up, minus his missed field goals, missed free throws, and turnovers. This number is then divided by games played to figure a player’s PER. Michael Jordan is the first player to record a PER of 30 or higher, with an ending career PER of 27.91, the highest in NBA history. LeBron’s is second, with 27.52. Update: (LeBron’s career PER has dropped slightly from 27.52)A different metric is that of Box Plus/Minus. LeBron was leading Jordan for 1st all-time. Jordan was a close second until Russell Westbrook had a season that broke the Box Plus/Minus model. The creator of this analytic realized that something was wrong. Westbrook got a score that blew everyone in NBA history away by a huge margin, making him the greatest of all time. Yeah, right. He’s great, but he’s not the GOAT, at least not at this stage in his career. So, some adjustments were made and guys like John Stockton who were being shortchanged, got a little more respect. Jordan, for his part, slid into the driver’s seat with a number one all-time Box Plus/Minus score of 7.2, to LeBron’s 7.1.Value Over Replacement is yet another metric created to give a different perspective for finding the most elite players in the league. It compares a player’s value to their team with a replacement or average player. It is a cumulative metric, in that its value is measured over time. It attempts to determine a player’s value over another replacement player. Again, Jordan and LeBron rise to the top of the NBA heap. LeBron has a higher VORP than Jordan, but Jordan has more of the highest seasons ever recorded, (6 out of the top 9) than Lebron. Overall, the aggregate value in these metrics favor Jordan over LeBron slightly. But slightly is enough to give him the nod in the statistics/metrics category.One last thing about a specific category is concerning rebounding. Jordan averaged more offensive rebounds, but LeBron averaged a little over one more defensive rebounds. This has to do with two things. One is his position relative to when opponents shoot the ball. The second is transition defense. Many coaches tell guys not to go for offensive rebounds, so that stat is lower than it has been in years. On the other hand, teams are setting records for defensive rebounds because every body on the shooting team is trying to get back in transition. Teams that shoot the ball are conceding the rebound. This means it is far easier to get rebounds because no one is fighting you for it anymore but your own teammates.That makes it easier to understand why LeBron just gets one more rebound and some change over Jordan. Why there is not a greater disparity speaks to the commitment Jordan had as being one of the best rebounding guards in NBA history.4. Championship mettle— The object of the game is to win by outscoring your opponent, and wow! Have both men ever done that! LeBron is one of just a handful of players who has played for a championship 9 times or more. That is just a great run in any era vs. any opponent. And he was always the focal point of those teams who played for titles. LeBron won three of those bad boys and he won the Finals MVP every time. But Michael Jordan, a champion of champions, doubled the King’s output, making it to 6 Finals and winning all 6 times. Jordan also was not merely a role player. He wasn’t even the sidekick or second man. In every one of those championships, he was the most important player, like LeBron, the game changer. Jordan was always the best player on the floor. This is not only true in Finals series, but throughout the playoffs. And he is undefeated in Finals series. To add to that, he never got taken to a Finals Game 7. By contrast, LeBron has struggled in all of his Finals except one. He hasn’t won often and he hasn’t even always been the best player on the floor. In fact, LeBron’s record in Finals series is 3–6. He has lost two thirds of the Finals he has played in!LeBron has had some amazing games where he was sensational, like against Detroit in 2007, again in 2016 against Golden State, and against the Thunder in 2012. But he has also had games where he left his own fans wondering if he forgot how to play basketball, like against Boston in 2010, against Dallas in 2011, and against Golden state in 2019. He has gotten swept twice and has experienced the wrong side of the most lopsided Finals ever, when the aging San Antonio Spurs gave his super team Heat a spanking they will never forget. Particularly, against Dallas, LeBron showed a side of him that was especially disturbing. He completely disappeared in Games 4, 5, and 6. I don’t mean he merely had a bad shooting night, but a hideous series. He was a non-factor. Game 4 was especially bad. LeBron scored a whopping 8 points and got 4 turnovers.This wasn’t him struggling against a juggernaut like Golden State. His Miami Heat were favored to beat the Mavericks and had actually taken a 2–1 lead on them when LeBron had his meltdown. I saw a couple of things in that series that have plagued LeBron on and off throughout his career.First, he was afraid to touch the ball. He didn’t want to get the ball in crucial situations and he didn’t want to get fouled. He was playing “Hot Potato” with his teammates!Secondly, I listened to what the commentators were saying about his opponents. His lack of conviction in playing caused J.J. Barrea to become a hero. He was credited with doing a phenomenal job on the great LeBron James. And when the commentator, who was none other than Magic Johnson, mentioned that LeBron was going to have to find a way to stop Jason Terry, I knew a major flaw had just been exposed in the King’s game. How was he going to stop Jason Terry????!!! Jason Terry was a 33 year old coming off the bench!This is the same guy, LeBron, who was considered a defensive stopper with multiple all-NBA defensive selections and had locked up the league’s MVP, Derek Rose, just a few weeks prior, in the playoffs. He was also, himself, a 2-time league MVP, scoring champ, and had participated in the Finals a few years before hand. So, this wasn’t his first rodeo. He was considered the best player in the league, but right then, he wasn’t even the best player on his team! Show me a series in Jordan’s playoff or Finals career where he wasn’t the best player on his team and on the floor. You will never find it. You might argue that Larry Bird was even with him in 1985–86, but that’s it. There was never a Dallas in Jordan’s resume. That’s crucial because when you are talking about the greatest of all time, even little things mean a lot. This isn’t little. Jordan never struggled mentally, from the standpoint of conveying the idea that he wasn’t up to the challenge. You can see when LeBron is beaten. He shows it in his posture, his downcast eyes. He gives the impression sometimes, against great competition, that he has thrown in the towel. Jordan, by contrast, was the champion of champions. His incredible athletic ability was matched only by his otherworldly competitiveness to produce a player who was a man’s man, a giant among mortals. Jordan wins the championship mettle category handily over LeBron.5. Still Super Without the Cape— Some people say that Jordan didn’t win anything without Pippen, that his vaunted exploits and great feats were dimmed by the fact that he could do nothing worthy of a championship until he had Scottie on his team. He was 1–9 in the playoffs without Scottie.That’s interesting, because of all the different versions of Jordan that exist, this ring-less one is actually my favorite. He showed the full range of who he was an individual performer. Scoring titles. Check. Defensive Player of the year. Check. Dunk championship. Check. MVP. Check. Led his team in steals. Check. Assists. Check. This was the Jordan that made basketball a global sport and made it ok for guys to have a shoe fetish. 80s Jordan was in his prime and would decimate anyone in today’s game, in or out of their prime. He took the #1 Boston Celtics into 2 overtimes before finally bowing out. His 63 point performance in that playoff series has never been broken, and had only been done once before in history, by the great Elgin Baylor.To this day, only Elgin Baylor (61) and Michael Jordan (63) have ever scored 60 points or more in a playoff game. This is because you play the more elite teams in the playoffs and finals and it’s very difficult to put up great numbers against teams that can focus on you defensively every other night. Jordan did it against the best defense in the league and one of the greatest teams ever assembled. With no help.Not only did Jordan take on the immortal Celtics, prompting Larry Bird to call him “God disguised as Michael Jordan”, but he would put the team on his back and give the Bad Boys of Detroit nightmares. These teams could both beat anyone in this current era, if using 1980′s rules. Jordan didn’t have the benefit of refs enforcing “no hand check rules”. Dennis Rodman could have both hands on him out beyond the 3 point arc, and often did. Jordan couldn’t shake some of these guys because they could check him in his mid section, which is a part of your body that has to be free in order to cross people over.Also, Jordan played injured and sick. When he took on the Jazz, he was suffering flu-like symptoms, but still put in a 38 pt. performance, then was half-carried off the court by Scottie Pippen.Even when his shot wasn’t falling as easily, Jordan found a way to win. He didn’t have to take the last shot, or even be the leading scorer. He scored 22 points one time against the Knicks, which was low for him, but his defense, assists, and rebounds kicked it up a notch and they cruised to an easy win. When guys on his team made bone-headed mistakes, he just played harder. When LeBron’s teammate, J.R. Smith, lost track of time and frittered away a chance to win the game in regulation in Game 1, 2018 Finals, LeBron lost his nerve. He went into a rant and fell apart. He had been amazing up until that point, and even had given Cleveland the lead and a chance to steal home court advantage against the Golden State juggernaut, with a 49 point outburst.But little things sometimes get under LeBron’s skin and he went ice cold in overtime, not scoring but one time. Let me clarify. He didn’t score, not because he kept missing. I could live with, and respect that. He didn’t take a shot until the halfway mark of the overtime session! We don’t even have to make a comparison with Jordan here. There are few all-time greats that would have invested that much of themselves into winning a game, then just vanished into thin air with the game on the line. That has become a recurring theme with LeBron. And because of the frequency of times it has occurred, it has fatally hurt his GOAT chances, especially in a comparison with Jordan, who was so killer, that this was like, his greatest strength.On the other hand, if all we ever knew of LeBron, was this side of him, he wouldn’t even be in the conversation, indeed some say he shouldn’t be in the conversation. However, greatness is greatness, and LeBron has it in spades. He may not be the GOAT, but he is on the Mount Rushmore. His 2016 series against Golden State did much to erase the stigma he had created for himself as a choke artist. He put the Cavaliers on his back and brought them back from being 3 down to winning the championship. That was the single greatest feat in his career, for me. It was also considered by many to be as great as any series of Jordan’s career. Even though LeBron had help. The Warriors were overrated that year. The refs did a poor job. And you didn’t have to worry about hand checks. There were several obvious no calls or wrong calls, prompting some to say that it was in the NBA’s best interest to keep the series going. There is also the hindsight question of how LeBron let a team get a 3–1 lead on him, if they were beatable.But make no mistake, this series showed what LeBron was capable of when he was locked in. Nobody had an answer for him on both sides of the court. And it was his defense, shockingly, that won the game and the series, outside of Kyrie’s amazing shot. His chase down block of Iguadala will be replayed for years to come. If LeBron had played this way more consistently, he could more aptly be compared to Jordan. Actually, if LeBron played throughout his career, the way he played against Golden State in 2015–2016, he would be greater than Michael Jordan!But greatness isn’t always seen in super human exploits. You could say that if Jordan had been the play-maker through his career, the way he was in 1989, he would be a better passer than Magic, Stockton, LeBron, and Bird. But consistency and doing little things extraordinarily right is often more important than sensational performances. How a player plays without his powers has more accumulative impact. That’s why Jordan was so great. He did any and everything it took to win. He beats LeBron in being great “without” the powers, whether it was his shot not falling, playing with food poisoning, or the Pistons having everyone else’s number, just waiting for him to collapse, he fought his way to the bitter end, win or lose. It’s like Superman fighting with a kryptonite bullet in him. He still has to find a way, and Jordan usually did.5. Strength of Competition— Have you ever wondered why some teams can be undefeated on basketball or football rankings of the top 25, but they are ranked near the bottom? How can a team be undefeated, yet ranked very low? Simple. They haven’t played against real competition. Other teams that have lost 2 or even 3 games, can remain in the top 5, depending on how the teams that beat them were ranked. This is a very important topic and one that can change the nature and impact of this discussion. If Jordan or LeBron had more competition throughout their careers, it will favor either one of them enough to give them the edge in this discussion.When Jordan was going 1–9 without Scottie Pippen, it was when the East was a beast. The Celtics, Bucks, and Pistons were fighting to break out. Before that, it was the 76ers with Dr. J and Moses Malone. Every series was thrilling. Many of them went to 5 games or 7. They had best out of five in the earlier rounds back then. The East won as much as the West, which had the Mavericks, the Jazz, the Lakers, and the Rockets. The NBA was more competitive in a more balanced way than it is now, and players were more mature, spending more time playing in college systems until they developed, although today’s NBA has more talent and more advanced technology.LeBron has had more competition in his Finals appearances. The Golden State Warrior teams and the San Antonio teams were great, better than most of Jordan’s Finals competition. But there are two things I have to say about that.First of all, Jordan’s conference was just as tough as LeBron’s Finals. I would love to see the ’86 Celtics who lost like twice in the whole playoffs take on the 73–9 Golden State Warriors with no hand checks. If LeBron spotted them 3 games and beat them, what could a prime Larry Bird, with Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge do to them? Remember, Larry Bird was the alpha of the NBA and was a decidedly better individual player than Magic in both their primes, though Magic had a better career.They (Celts) would never have allowed Golden State to get a 3–1 lead in the first place. Furthermore, what about the 2-time champ Detroit Pistons? Jordan had to battle these guys before he even got to the Finals. Dumars was Defensive player of the Year. Rodman was 2-time Defensive Player of the Year. And Isiah Thomas led the league in steals at one point. They had the # 1 Defense in the league multiple years and inspired several other teams to form advanced defensive strategies for containing Jordan, like the Knicks, the Shaquille O’Neal-led Magic, and Reggie Miller’s Pacers, who are one of the only teams to take championship Chicago to 7 games.The teams Jordan faced were tougher than LeBron’s opponents were, to the teams they faced. In other words, Jordan’s opposing teams had a higher net rating, slightly, than LeBron’s. For Jordan’s competition, it translated into 53–54 wins per season. That’s the average record of their opponents. LeBron’s was slightly less at 51–52. Jordan’s own team averaged just slightly over 58 wins, while LeBron’s averaged 55. The net average rating of Jordan’s opponents was 4.6, while LeBron’s was 4.0. Jordan’s Bulls’ own net rating was 7.3, while LeBron’s teams’ were 5.3. LeBron’s Finals opponents averaged 60.8 wins. Jordan’s opponents averaged 61.2.This is devastating to the argument that LeBron’s teams were light years ahead of the neanderthals who Jordan went up against. This doesn’t prove that teams in Jordan’s era could mop the floor with today’s players, but clearly, it doesn’t show that LeBron’s teams would make quick work of the Jordan-era squads either. The truth is, we will never know for certain. Jordan’s teams though, weren’t facing a juggernaut like Golden State because Jordan’s teams were the juggernaut. His Bulls won more titles than Golden State and San Antonio.Today’s players do have better technology and training techniques at their disposal. They also are more talent-rich. Certainly, this would give today’s players a decided edge over players who played 20-30+ years ago. But there are other factors as well. Guys back in the day went to college. They actually stayed in school, some of them until they graduated. So, when they were drafted, they tended to be older, more mature, and had spent considerable time playing under the tutelage of some great coaches in a system. This is why those players, though somewhat less talented, were more skilled, on the average.Look at a comparison of Jordan and LeBron’s rookie years. Actually, there is no real comparison. Jordan’ was better and it wasn’t even close. Even in assists, an area where LeBron has typically bested Jordan at every turn, Jordan is even with him.Another area where Jordan bests LeBron is in the building of an enduring dynasty. LeBron jumped teams several times through his career. In fact, every three to four years, throughout his career, he has to reboot with a different team. Now, his teams were more talented than Jordan’s but they didn’t have the same rapport, the same chemistry. The Bulls worked and functioned together like a well-oiled machine and that was largely because of Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, and Michael Jordan. It was also because Jordan stayed put. He didn’t need to keep rebooting.They kept a high level of morale and worked out any team differences so that they could continue to compete for championships for many years. They didn’t cut and run when it looked like they couldn’t get past the Pistons. They just dug down and tried harder.They took their lumps until they learned to give them. That was because of Jordan. A lesser leader would have folded, took his talents elsewhere, or just been content to be an Eastern Conference Finals contender or also-ran. Not Jordan. Unlike the guys who had to go against him when he and his Bulls were on top, Jordan didn’t bow to the Pistons. That’s important because if he had, he would be exactly where LeBron was when he couldn’t beat the Spurs and left town. Jordan bent the Pistons to his inexorable will. They were not old. They weren’t injured and they weren’t burnt out. They were just beaten, and Isiah Thomas tells why they got swept. He said he looked over at the Bulls and realized in that moment that “They were us.” They had the Pistons’ drive, their skills, heart, and grit.If LeBron had a conference that tough, it would require him to face the Golden State Warriors (Celtics) and the San Antonio Spurs (Pistons) in his own conference! He could not have made it to 9 Finals with the kind of competition Jordan faced on a regular basis in his own backyard.I am going to push back a little harder on the “Pistons got old” lie. When the 1991 playoffs started, Isiah was 29. Dennis Rodman was 29. Joe Dumars was 28. John Salley was 26. Mark Aguirre was Kevin Durant’s age (31). It was a relatively young team. In fact, the older players for the Bulls, like Cartwright, were nearly as old as the Pistons’ oldest players, like James Edward, who was younger than LeBron is now, and Bill Laimbeer, who was just a little older than Steph Curry is currently. The Bulls’ Craig Hodges was older than most of the Pistons. They just got beat by a better team. And the Pistons had gotten a taste of their own medicine. Jordan wore them down and got inside their heads the way they did to the 76ers, the Lakers and the Celtics. They finally realized that they could only delay, but not deny the inevitable. Jordan was coming for them and he was at the door. KNOCK KNOCK! But Jordan didn’t play against the guys LeBron went up against, or did he? We will get to this in a moment.Another falsehood is the notion that Jordan only beat the Utah Jazz because they were declining, which is hilarious! Jordan was around the same age as John Stockton, who entered the league the very same year. Karl Malone entered a year later. I really get tired of people making up stuff!Could Jordan have faced the guys that LeBron did? Could he deal with them the same way? We actually don’t have to imagine such a scenario because one exists. An aging Jordan was playing in the same league as a prime 25/10 Dirk Nowitzki, a 30/7/6 Kobe Bryant, a 28/11 Shaquille O’Neal, an Allen Iverson coming off his MVP season, a two-time MVP, Tim Duncan, who put up 25/13 and 23/13 in the two years that Jordan came back, Vince Carter, Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd, and Kevin Garnett, all in their primes. Shaq, Kobe, and Tim Duncan are pantheon players. How well did Jordan do? He averaged 23 points per game in 2001–2002. That was about what Tim Duncan averaged when he won the MVP the next year! Duncan was actually averaging 21/12 with nearly 3 blocks per game the year of the Bulls’ Last Dance.In fact, I want to show you something because these players I just posted were in their primes during Jordan AND LeBron’s playing careers, especially a guy like Kobe.Look at Kobe’s 2007–2008 MVP numbers— ppg 28.3, rebounds-6.3, assists-5.4 free throws-84%, fg %-46%, steals-1.8, blocks-0.5, and turnovers-3.1 Great, right?Now compare them to Michael’s rookie numbers—ppg 28.2, rebounds- 6.5, assists-5.9, steals-2.4, fg%-51.5% Free throws-84.5%, blocks-0.8, turnovers-3.5. They both played the same position, but Michael Jordan’s rookie numbers were better than Kobe Bryant’s MVP numbers in every category but two! This is an apples-to-apples comparison, folks!LeBron’s first MVP season was also impressive, but Jordan had several non-MVP seasons that were just as impressive. In fact, the year he averaged 37 points per game, but Magic took the MVP, his numbers were neck-and-neck with LeBron’s first MVP season numbers.The 1988–89 season Jordan again fell to Magic Johnson in the MVP voting, but beat out nearly all of LeBron’s MVP seasons! Comparing Jordan’s 88–89 season to LeBron’s 2009–2010 MVP season, you can see that Jordan averaged more points, rebounds, better fg%, better free throw %, more steals, but fewer blocks and assists. Jordan also had more turnovers. Still, he comes out ahead of LeBron in 5 of 8 categories, and this was a non-MVP year for Jordan. Now, I am on the record as saying that comparing players of two different positions in the 8 classic categories is like comparing apples to oranges. I stand by that, but supporters of LeBron James for GOAT are fond of saying he put up better overall numbers, and they use the classic 8 to make their case. I am merely showing that by their own standards, LeBron fails the test. But when you put those numbers in context, Jordan goes into overdrive.In every one of the 8 classic statistical categories by which a player is rated, ranked, and compared, rookie Michael Jordan is not only competitive with MVP Kobe, he is beating him, except for one tenth of a point less in scoring and 4 tenths more in turnovers, but he was playing as more of a point guard while Kobe was a shooting guard! At any rate, Jordan’s rookie year is an MVP year in the Kobe/LeBron era! LeBron actually won the MVP the very next year after Kobe got his.In fact, Jordan’s rookie numbers were nearly as good as LeBron’s in his first MVP season. They are neck-and-neck in scoring. Jordan has a higher field goal percentage, higher free throw percentage, played one more game, and averaged more steals. LeBron had a slightly higher points per game average, at 28.4, and had slightly fewer turnovers, but more blocks. So, the two apex predators in their primes, Kobe and LeBron, the best basketball players on the planet, at the time, having possibly the best years of their careers, have stats that are virtually indistinguishable from a rookie Michael Jordan! All of the years of these three men would be great in ANY era. Let’s just take a moment and savor their collective greatness.One other thing to consider is that Jordan, playing as a forty-something in the same calendar year in which LeBron would make his debut, posted an ALL TIME record for the most points by a player over 40, with 43 in 43 minutes! That’s an average of a point per minute, in an era where people said Jordan would just be a mortal of average ability. The fact is, everybody Jordan torched that year, from Tim Duncan, to Kevin Garnett to Dirk Nowitzki, to Kobe and Shaq, all played against LeBron and gave him problems. So the ludricous idea that Jordan played in the Stone Age while LeBron played against super humans of ridiculous ability, is just plain foolish. If old man Jordan impressed, what would apex prime Jordan do???I want to say that the NBA has improved tremendously, but that is, in part, because it has partly gone back to what it was originally, a non contact sport. If Jordan had played in a league in which you couldn’t put two hands on a player out beyond the 3 point arc, and one in which you couldn’t lean on guys, pull their jerseys, or give hard fouls, he would have not only scored more, but his passes would have resulted in more assists, as teams would not let any pass from Jordan result in an assist. The abiding rule was to let him score, but not do any other damage. That is all illegal in the era of LeBron.The NBA is much better at shooting the three. In fact, a lot of the talent in the NBA is maximized because they actually let players play. That is as it should be, and the league has benefited greatly because of it. But it also means that when we revisit the glory days, we must give context to lower scores, non-existent 3 point shooting, and bump and grind basketball. There are no Jordan Rules that LeBron or anyone in today’s NBA has to worry about.If yesteryear’s more skilled teams played against today’s more talented teams, it would come down to the rules used. If they played by today’s rules, Jordan-era teams would be in trouble. Today’s players could shoot the lights out on them. If using 80s/90s rules, the Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Magic, and the Bulls would make quick work of any team today, including the 2015–2019 Golden State Warriors and the 2010–2013 Miami Heat, and the 2014 San Antonio Spurs.6. The Help— Jordan and LeBron have enjoyed playing with some great athletes who helped them win titles but one guy, LeBron, has changed the entire NBA with his choice and ability to take his talents to other places and join up with other great players. LeBron was the first player to generate a super team as a player. He left Cleveland and went to Miami to win “not one, not two, not three, not four,….” championships. Why did he think he could win that many? Well, aside from feasting in an anemic East that usually lost the title to the West, he had signed on with scoring champ and Finals MVP, D Wade, one of the all-time greatest players to ever play in the NBA. He also had contacted Chris Bosh, a big man who was in the MVP discussion and played for Toronto. These guys averaged 30/6/7, and 25/10, respectively. These numbers were good enough for either of these guys to lead the team by themselves, but on a team with LeBron James? Yeah, this was definitely a super team.In fact, LeBron has had a great deal of help no matter what team he has played for. He wouldn’t have it any other way, and I don’t blame him. If I could pick my team and my teammates, I am picking scoring champs, Finals MVPs, MVP candidates, and the best guys I could find. No scrubs for me! That is one reason why LeBron’s losing record in the Finals is constantly questioned, scrutinized, and criticized. He was not laboring with mortal scrubs that he dragged to Mount Olympus every year. In many of the years he played for a chip, he was playing with the gods!Jordan’s guys never attained the status of LeBron’s teammates, as Jordan was at the mercy of the general manager and owner, who didn’t always have the team’s best interests at heart. Jordan struggled to play with guys who took cocaine and lived a hard life. He got journeymen and just average or solid guys who never played for championships and often looked as if they didn’t belong. Without Scottie Pippen, Jordan’s teammates have a whopping 4 total all-star appearances! LeBron’s teammates have a staggering 44 appearances. This is not including Shaquille O’Neal, who was no longer in his prime, and didn’t help LeBron win anything of note.But then, Jordan only had 6 guys who were all stars making those 11 appearances, 7 by Scottie Pippen, whereas LeBron had 14 guys making those 44 appearances.Outside of Scottie Pippen, it looks even worse. 4 of LeBron’s teammates have won scoring titles, rebounding titles, championships, Finals MVPs, or were in the top 10 in the league before playing with him! Besides, you had to double team several of LeBron’s teammates. Jordan played with no one that you had to consistently double team throughout his career, neither did he play with anyone who was consistently in the top 10 throughout his career. Scottie attained that status some years.What about in the Finals? Who had more help then? Well, Jordan didn’t have any all-stars in either his first or his last championship runs. In at least 2 of the Finals appearances, the opponents Jordan faced had a better record, more all-stars, and better stats. LeBron did face the Warriors and the Spurs who had more guns, but generally he matched up better with his opponents than did Jordan.7. Follow the Leader— Bulls seemed like a super team because they had Jordan and the Bulls kept their nucleus in place for years, because of him. He kept the team together and they learned to work together.I want to dispel the notion that because the Bulls barely missed a beat when Jordan retired, that somehow he is not this great leader like LeBron. What a load of crock! Jordan stayed on the same team with the same basic guys until they could think and feel as one, a unit. That takes a lot of hard work and years of preparation and playing together. I am not knocking LeBron because he had to do what he had to do, but forming a super team in 2 years or so, only to leave a few years later, and form another super team, is not the same as staying put and actually building something special. A dynasty is a dynasty because it is bigger than any one man. No one ruler in history could preside over a true dynasty. It outlasts any one ruler.LeBron had built some amazing teams in a very short period of time. He deserves the lion’s share of the credit for that. He is also the best in the business at taking teams that have very little chemistry and creating something that can win big. Both men are very good leaders. And LeBron created some special moments in Cleveland and Miami. But Chicago was the House that Mike Built.8. The “I” Test— When it’s all said and done, people can usually just look at two players and watch them to determine who is the best. When I look at LeBron James, I see someone who might be the most talented player ever to play, though that is debatable. I see someone who has many gifts. I see someone who is sensational to watch and who I would gladly pay money to see any day.But in Jordan we had a guy who displayed a trait unlike anyone in any sport. His greatest gift was not his athletic talent, though he arguably is just as talented as the bigger, stronger LeBron, but has a higher vertical and faster 40 than the King when both were in their primes. Jordan’s greatest gift wasn’t just his competitiveness either. Other men were extremely competitive. Jordan’s greatest gift is self-hypnosis, the ability to convince himself that he was playing the same game as his opponents and his teammates, but for higher stakes.It was as if someone was holding his family members hostage with the caveat that they wouldn’t live if he didn’t win. When other people were playing very hard to win important games for status, prestige, or bragging rights, Jordan playing in the same games they were, was playing, as if for his life. And that is visible to the eye. Jordan knew that he was the game changer, the one for whom the buck stopped. He could do everything LeBron could, including pass. What LeBron could not consistently do that Jordan could was take over when ever and wherever it was necessary. Jordan was once told that there is no “I” in team. He responded by saying, “Yeah, but there is an “I” in win. Enough said.9. In My Professional Opinion— What do the best minds in basketball say about the GOAT? This is also a very important factor in determining the greatest of all time. People who vote for the MVP every year—coaches, basketball analysts, sports writers, and such, have professional opinions about everything basketball-related. The vast majority of them say that there is only one person that is clearly, or most clearly the greatest. It is Michael Jordan. In a recent poll, 73% of professional basketball players, including younger ones, said Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.10. Days of Future Past— One of the greatest factors in determining the GOAT is whether the athlete performed so well for so long, that he actually changed the way the game is played. What legacy did the player leave for future generations? How many players from the past can be compared to him? I don’t believe there is anyone better than Jordan, but I do believe that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in the conversation. LeBron, Magic, Kobe, Bird, Russell, Duncan, and Wilt Chamberlain also deserve mention, in my opinion. Hakeem and Shaq might take up the next tier.But guys like Wilt, Russell, Dr. J, Magic, and Bird, deserve to be spotlighted because their careers transformed the sport. Wilt caused the NBA to widen the lane to where it is now. Russell made defense an integral part of the game. Kareem was so dominant that colleges, fearful that he would destroy their game, outlawed dunking to give other teams a fighting chance. This decision, which forced a generation of big men to alter their game, caused Kareem to excel even more, developing the most unstoppable shot in history—the sky hook.The subject of Kareem is a painful one for me. How do the supporters of LeBron James for GOAT use total numbers to “prove” that LeBron is greater than Jordan—more points, assists, rebounds, blocks, etc., but not realize that King James falls prey to Kareem for the same reason?Kareem has more career points, rebounds, higher field goal percentage, more blocks, and fewer turnovers. LeBron takes assists, free throws, and steals. Kareem has more championships, with 6, equal to Jordan. LeBron has 3. Kareem has 19 all-star selections. LeBron has 17, although, to be fair, LeBron has only played 17 years. That’s why I think total numbers shouldn’t be used, but averages and other metrics. But let’s continue on. Kareem has more regular season MVPs—6, to LeBron’s 4. He has fewer 1st team all-NBA selections, but is tied with LeBron in overall All-NBA selections and has more total regular season and Finals MVPs combined, with 8. LeBron has 7. I repeat. If LeBron is better than Jordan because he has more total numbers, then by that same logic, Kareem cleans LeBron’s clock! So, we aren’t really talking about numbers acquired simply from playing so long, are we?Magic and Bird made non-basketball types feel that they could hold their own by making great plays and deferring to teammates. The popularity of the NBA rose with those two. Then Jordan took it into overdrive.If we are speaking of legacy, then Michael Jordan, according to guys like Wilt Chamberlain, is probably untouchable. His playing above the rim inspired a generation of players and fans to become interested in basketball globally. Jordan’s relationship with Nike is the most prosperous of its kind in the history of sports. Jordan has built a brand unto himself and the man is a walking billboard. Everything he wore became all the rage. When he shaved his head, millions of men said, “Yes!” and were glad that they didn’t have to invest in Rogaine. Baggy shorts became the apparel of choice in the NBA and the world over, because Michael did it. Gatorade, Coca-Cola, and Hanes underwear sold billions of products because of him.There are actually two men most responsible for the popularity of the NBA as we know it today. David Stern, to whom Jordan recently paid tribute because of his aggressive global recruiting policy, and Jordan himself.So, taking the full measure of both Jordan and LeBron, Jordan wins 9 of the ten categories, and is so close in the one he didn’t win,(Durability/Longevity) that it renders LeBron’s advantage in that area nearly moot.But I challenge anyone who disagrees with this answer I have posted, to have a real conversation with me, not one that resorts to name calling and juvenile behavior. This is an adult forum. I await your comments and questions.Thank you!

Well, vomiting was your first reaction to not wanting to die. Now, if the pills were in solid tablet form and they came up when you vomited. You should be fine, but if they were in a gelatin capsule, then you are at a higher risk of liver damage.Either way go to the Emergency of the closest hospital, in most cases if you tell the person at triage that you have overdosed, they will take you in right away. One of the best ways to neutralize just about any overdose of a pharmaceutical is with a solution with a lot of charcoal in it. I don’t know what is worse, being unconscious and having to have it pumped into your stomach or being conscious and having to drink glass after glass of the stuff until they are certain your full of the stuff from the back of your throat right through your intestines, knocking on the doors of your bladder and sphincter. Trust me, it’s a lot of glasses full of the stuff, but it’s better than have them pump it in while you are conscious.Then the fun really starts because you start to poop black, which is normal, and no reason to freak out, it is just the charcoal. Yet it takes about a week to ten days before you stop pooping black and your variety of browns return. Well sometimes greens and yellows depending on your diet, but no longer black.Look, I’m a psychologist. I know you felt at the time you had a reason to take so many pills. Your subconscious has more control over you than your conscious. It is your subconscious that knows that you don’t really want to die, and also knows that 20 pills is not near enough to kill you. It can make you mighty sick and cause all sorts of health issues and of course the greatest risk as mentioned would be to the liver.Constantly having to go to a dialysis clinic three days a week for a very long time while waiting for a viable match for a transplant is no picnic in the park.We all go through troubled times and because of the pain of loss, tragedy, or trauma, we suffer bouts of stress, anxiety, and depression. The good news is that you are far from alone in such feelings, and these conditions can all be treated with medication and therapy. In many cases, completely cured.The only cases that can not be cured are those of which who are genetically born with the condition. Yet they learn to accept who and what they are, they learn how to manage their conditions, and take training in cognitive therapy so that they can recognize the times when they are not thinking logically, rational, or with common sense. They learn to dismiss negative or damaging thoughts and seek out the positive alternative. Of course, they also need medication for the rest of their lives to help balance the chemistry of the brain.There is actually nothing wrong with such people. They just have brains that are structured slightly different than the average person. They have slightly altered brain chemistry, and slightly alter neural pathways. They simply see and understand things in a different perspective than the average person.If humanity can finally learn to get past the stigmas and the labels and stop seeing these people as being mentally ill. Then they will start to recognize that in fact many of them are extremely gifted and possess an array of extreme talents that out shine the rest of humanity.The most notable of these disorders or conditions as I prefer to call them is of course Bipolar. So many geniuses have been and still are bipolar, and they need to step out and let the world know that they are functioning in spite of their condition. Now some put themselves in danger by self medicating. Otherwise, living off the highs of Bipolar and only treating the depressive side. The usually they get filled with so much bravado, they stop treating the depressive side, and sure enough, when they go into a down slide, they don’t have the medication barrier to hold them back, and they go far too deep. Such was the case of Robin Williams.Many great people were Bipolar, such as Winston Churchill, Mozart, and Picasso.Being Bipolar is like living on a roller coaster, it was formally called Manic Depressive Disorder, because it cycles between the moods of depression and moods of mania. Pay attention. the words Manic and mania although similar have nothing to do with the word maniac. At least in my professional catalogue. Mania is an extraordinary feeling of energy and euphoria. It is a natural release of adrenaline, serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. Bipolar people have an abundance of these neurotransmitters and can ride that wave for quite a while, and then it just overloads and then they swing down to the state of depression, where they should have understood through therapy to not panic but instead, rest, take it easy, and let your body and natural chemical reserves build back up. The great thing is they build up stronger, and the reserve grows larger.Most bipolar people go into the fine arts of…..well art, such as painting, sculpture, and such, music as in writing, composing, conducting and playing modern artist also indulge in singing. Writing prose and poetry. Some become part of the entertainment industry whether it be acting, producing, direction, play writing, screenwriting, or cinematographers.The problem is, many of them have gone undiagnosed simple because they already have an alcoholic or a recreational drug habit that can effect similar symptoms. Yet even with these constant barriers, their overall behavior is still evident through the booze and the drugs.Without a doubt, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Marilyn Monroe, and Kurt Cobain of the rock band Nirvana all suffered from being bipolar, but were never openly diagnosed, or if they were, never got past the denial, and that’s the first step. If a person refused to accept that they are different, you can’t help them. They are destined to be a fatal train wreck. It is so sad, because once a person who is bipolar finds a focal point they can work in both moods. It reflects in their art, dark and light.So, it is important to get a proper evaluation. First you will need a full medical check up after you have recovered from this incident to make sure that you have no hidden physical illness. Believe it or not, but often something way off in your system is sending false signals to your brain and your brain can’t respond because it can not sense pain if there is not any, it can not sense lack of oxygen in the blood if there is plenty. It could be a calcium build up that has detached from a bone and has been surrounded by a section of inner fat, and the body senses the irritation although not painful, but can be confused as a tumor. Please, don’t go suggesting such things to doctors. I am not here to create hypochondriacs. Just a complete physical check up with a complete blood work will determine if your body is in fair health. Of course doctors always harp on people about being overweight, smoking, high or low blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. But that’s their job to be annoying as possible. I just ask to see their chart from their last check up and they tell me that it is none of my business. So, I just smile and thank the doctor for a job well done as I walk out the office. Doctors are all, “do as I say, not as I do.”I am not a medical doctor, yet I am still a doctor and thus had much of the same training has a medical doctor except I can not medically treat, prescribe medication, or perform minor or major surgery on a patient. I can’t even examine them. Yet, I still know how to read a chart and what the numbers mean. I know the language of medical doctors. I must, because when people came to me for therapy, they would often discuss their medical problems and if we are not prepared with that knowledge, we shatter the confidence and trust that patients not only expect, but need.If we waste time in a session asking “what is that?” then the patient become impatient. Any therapist who has to ask questions based on health and anatomy is a fraud, and a disservice to humanity.Those of use who spend over 20 years of university live in academia do it because it is our passion to help. My major concern is to dispel urban legends, myths, social stigma and bias in order to bring a better understanding the mental health is for everyone. No one should ever be afraid to reach out and ask for help.At Quora, I am not here to personally help people. I just want to clarify things and then direct people in the right direction to get help as close to home as possible. As a professional I have hung up my shingle, but it still does not erase the fact that by both decree and certification I am and will always be a doctor of psychology, philosophy, and a master of social anthropology. I shall still hold those honors until my death. So, I keep in fair health, I do some public speaking engagements to private functions when asked. They don’t pay much, not like they pay the likes of Bill Clinton or Bill Gates. I think that has something to do with the fact that they both have the name Bill so that gives them the authority to charge a massive bill for their services. Yes, you can laugh, if you recognized that I was joking or you can groan if you also recognize that is was a lame joke. Doesn’t bother me either way. It was spur of the moment and I didn’t take time to prepare. Still, I get my traveling, accommodations, and meals paid for. On top of that I get some cash for personal use as I am out and about, and a small stipend for my services for speaking.Otherwise, I am lucky to come home with $300.00 in my pocket. I don’t get that many engagements, and so, they really do not supplement my lousy pension which I ignored and didn’t put enough into. At the time, when I took out the pension, I honestly did not imagine that the cost of living would skyrocket to what it is today. It barely even moved in over 100 years, the BOOM! It went completely out of control and there is no closing the lid, it will remain out of control.Yet, I don’t mind. I live in a near state of poverty, with a very low threshold of debt, which can be paid off withing a couple of months. I just keep it afloat to show that I am timely and active with my credit output/input.Then it is a matter of simply budgeting and living within ones means. Also, getting rid of any addictions such as smoking, or reducing some such as caffeine intake. I am down to two cups a day instead of two pots a day. I drink in moderation, and so, I buy quality liquor. Yes, it is more expensive, but learning to enjoy it for the flavor and not to get loaded teaches one tolerance and the truth of the matter is, alcohol in tolerance is actually beneficial to your health. Especially dark dry wines. A glass a day does wonders for enriching your blood with good oxygen and iron which the brain and the heart love. It is excess that reverses the benefits. Avoid carbonated alcohol drinks. Also avoid using mixers. If you can’t learn to drink quality liquor straight, then you might as well just buy the cheap stuff and mix it with what ever floats your boat. You will still likely suffer a hangover even if you don’t drink that much.Myself, I have the liking for aged single malt Scotch Whiskey. It takes a fair amount of time to become accustom to the subtle ambience and essence of Scotch Whiskey. It is almost essential to travel to Scotland and tour the distilleries. Yet I warn you, the Scots are extremely sensitive people, they don’t take kindly to show offs or braggarts, that is because, they mastered the art of showing off and bragging, and see any attempt from a foreigner as being amateur, and if you push your luck, you will end up in a brawl that cannot win.So the best approach is simply be yourself, because you really don’t know what you are about, and ask all the questions you can and make sure you can muster up as much politeness, innocence, and benign ignorance as you possibly can. They love telling you everything and that includes history and amazing tales. The Scots are collectively the world’s best storytellers and they are deeply passionate about it. They are also deeply passionate about their whiskey and they will teach you how to appreciate it, how to savor it, how to bring to mind tastes and sensations much like drinking wine does. If you warm up to Scots, they warm up to you. They have uncanny memories and you could comeback 20 years and if you made an impression, they will call you by name and embrace you. Often though, if you’ve been invited into their home, they have likely have honored you with a nickname, which might be of English recognition, such as if your name was George, they might dub you Geordie, yet they might bestow a higher honor and give you a Gaelic name that is almost near impossible to pronounce, but they’ll tell you what it means, and make sure you practice enough to be close to almost sounding correct. When you go home, you never stop practicing. Often you get hooked and make the effort to learn not only the Scottish Gaelic but lean the different lilts and variants. In no time when you revert to English, you’ll have a pronounced Scottish brogue. Why? Because Scottish Gaelic rolls from the back of the throat, and it is a difficult chore to master this technique so that you do not sound nasal. Where Irish Gaelic come more from the diaphragm so it is more higher pitched and almost musical in speech. Scots speak in a slower syllable like diction keeping the same cadence. If someone tries to do a Scottish accent but their cadence goes up and down, they sound more like someone from India or Pakistan than Scotland. Example, the original Scotty on Star Trek. Now, several folks were under the impression that the actor, James Doohan was of Scottish descent. Well, not so, he himself was born in Vancouver B.C. Canada. His parents were immigrants from Ireland. Now Doohan is Irish through and through. His mother’s maiden name is Montgomery. Well that can be anywhere in the UK. Originally they were French under the biblical patriarch Gomer. So the in Europe there were several hills and mountains named (anglicized) as Gomer’s Mount or Gomer’s Hill. So when spoken in French became such as Monte Gomerie, or later with the papal influence, Mont Gomerico which did not sit well with the French but didn’t argue with the pope at the time, because popes didn’t last very long. Then it became de Mont Gumbri. Finally a Norman noble surfaced as Roger de Montgomerie 1st Earl of Shewsbury but the English called him Roger the Great de Montgomery. After that the name Montgomery spread wide and far through the UK. They settled in Sussex, they settled in Wales, there was a strong Montgomery clan in Scotland, and there were both green and orange Irish Montgomery estates. Take your pick. Regardless, James Doohan had the worst Scottish accent to hit the any screen.Anyway, I have gone way off topic, but does that really matter? So what if I provide some nonsense history and useless information. The idea is to distract you from your current situation, maybe make you smile, or the alternative be so bloody boring that how you feel is far better than my droning on an on.Yes, I am guilty of finding pleasure in many things because a busy mind can’t fall between the cracks and suffer the fates of anxiety, stress, and depression. Yet it is still a matter of balance and allocating your time and also learning how to multitask or juggle a number of activities at the same time. These are skills anyone can learn. You just have to make the choice to set a goal and see it through. Just don’t think in long term goals, think small and achievable goals. Complete them and reward yourself for a completed effort. Then challenge yourself for a more difficult or adverse goal. Yet remember, NEVER and I mean never beat your self up if you fail. Failure is a good thing if you understand that it is a lesson, that failure teaches that either you didn’t think something through, or maybe the goal you set was not really your cup of tea. Either put it aside or behind you, but take heed, that you don’t make the same mistakes again, because if you do, you are doomed to repeat them over and over.We just have to be conscious of our mistakes, not dwell on them and swim in a lake of guilt, misery and the dreaded “what ifs”. It’s done, no going back, no changing what has already happened. There is only one direction forward. Well, it is okay to take side trips as long as they are positive ones, but certainly don’t go back. I shake my head when people say, “I wish it was like the good ol’ days.” Sorry, wish all you want, but it’s not going to happen. Stop moaning and complaining and learn to adapt to the current situation. We are humans, we are capable of adjusting and adapting. If we have to grow gills and return to the oceans, well we will evolve if we must even if it takes 10,000 years. Yes, the world is changing. Yet all of this, end of the world apocalypse crap is way off base. It is all pure sensationalism based on scientific theory. Yes, there are all kinds of physical indicators of probability and possibility, but not one of them are written in either stone nor blood. Yet it stirs up enough blood and that just feeds those who love to spill out all sorts of fiction, sensationalism and yes, propaganda. Fear and paranoia are tools that are used both by religion and politics. They both have the same agenda, power and control. With power and control they can extract aggregate amounts of massive wealth, and then pretend that their is no funds to pay off their debts.We simply have to change the way we see and understand what’s going on. Get past the smoke and mirrors that create the illusions. We have nothing to fear if we have knowledge. We become less ignorant with the more knowledge we acquire.Think about it. What is it do you think terrorists need to feed off of so they can send their messages and spread their propaganda. The answer is fear and ignorance. Not throwing out insults which they just respond by causing trouble mostly in poor countries, and forcing the forces of the United Nations to come rushing in to provide assistance and care, spending their money, getting their soldiers killed in wars that are not directed at their own country’s soil. Oh, the terrorists are playing the humanity card all of the way and it is working as each country that goes to another to provide aide is being stripped of their own resources. Canada and the US alone spend billions of dollars a day to keep these efforts going.Is it any wonder that anxiety, stress and depression is on the rise at an alarming rate? Soldiers come back from senseless wars still in shock and few people even care these days. They just shrug their shoulders and say, “Eh, it’s military life. It’s a job, they knew the risks going in. It’s their problem, not ours.” Sure why not, but when one is killed in battle, there is outrage and the dead soldier comes home in a box with honors and postmortem medals and the full military funeral in all of its glory, but the ones who come back alive, they were just doing what they were paid to do. There is something wrong with that picture. I am only grateful that they isolated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and gave it the attention it deserves in both finding the right medications and proper therapy in such a professional and timely matter. It has been the most progressive discovery and attentive need to resolve condition in the history of psychology, psychiatry, and pharmaceutical science.I only wish it happened sooner to have helped Timothy McVeigh before he blew up that federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. If he had been diagnosed, all of those lives would have been saved as well as his own. He could have been treated and became a productive member of society instead of a casualty of war shock.Like I said. Mental Health is for everyone. We all need to be physically and mentally sound. We need to take care of ourselves first as a priority before we can take care of others. We can only be a disservice and a hindrance if we try to help people if we are not well or if we are mentally overwhelmed. You can only become not only a danger to yourself but a danger to others. Often is the case of the overwhelmed and overworked housewife and mother. Everyone expects her to do all of the work, while they slouch about. They just keep stuffing down in an internal bottle and popping the cork in place. Yet lo and behold, that vessel can hold only so much and that cork will pop and the vessel will explode. Then watch out, because it all comes to the surface and she will lash out in every direction and it is not a pretty sight.Blame the egotistic husband who claims his home is his castle and he is the monarch and all residents including the wife are merely servants to command. “Grab me a beer, won’t you Honey?” “Can you find my slippers and bring them to me Dear?” “Hey Darling, when is supper going to be ready?” On and on goes the slothful King. Then imagine who’s habits the children will adapt to? That’s easy, their father. He doesn’t do a thing and gets what ever he wants. Let mom do it. Life couldn’t be easier.No, I’m not making this up. I have dealt with it thousands of times. I can’t can’t force husbands to start sharing the responsibility of the household chores. They think that taking out the garbage when they finally smell it or cutting the lawn on sunny days when they can take off their shirts and stop every 10 minutes for a beer is enough. They go on about how they work all day to bring home the bacon. Do they have to cook it and serve it up as well? I look them straight in the eyes and say, don’t forget toe wash the dishes and sweep the floor after. The look at me as if I told them to go to work stark naked. I then have to get heavy and explain that if they don’t pitch in that what they do not realize that since the day they were married, he has been physically and mentally abusing his wife. That gets their dander up and they start shouting denial. Then I explain that wives do not sit about all day being idle. Well some do, but those are different cases. Devoted housewives have one of the most grueling jobs especially if it includes being a mother on top of it. They dust, they vacuum, they sweep, they mop, they prepare meals. Then they clean up after meals, and sweep and sometimes have to mop again. Husbands and children track in mud and all sorts of miscellaneous “stuff” through out the house and they get dumped all over without ceremony or regard. Dishes pile up, laundry piles up, and surfaces get dirty. Wives take honor is a clean and respectable home. Notice I did not say pleasure or joy. The closest that comes to is pride, but they are not particular happy about the workload that provides no wages or salary. Then of course there is the shopping to be done, food, clothing and necessities. Husbands, haven’t a clue the costs involved and grumble constantly when they see the payouts. Yet anything beyond that, the wife has to prod, cajole and beg for anything she might want for herself. “What do you need another pair of shoes for? You have 3 pairs already!” “What? Another dress? But you just bought a new dress last year!” Men for the most part just do not get women. It’s not that difficult. They are more than happy to explain but the key is the man has to actually pay attention when she explains and it’s a good idea to go through some of the motions as she’s explaining what women are all about.Look, I’m a man. I dearly love women. Yet I am also a scientist and with this knowledge I can confirm that women are actually the superior gender. It is only by the physical and the alpha ego of the male human that gives him the bully rights to oppress women. That’s just the way it has always been.But the times, they are a changin’ (thank you Bob Dylan) I have been advocating for equality for years, a lot of years because I already knew the time was coming that women were going to step up to the plate and make it abundantly clear that men are the lesser order. I hoped that an equality campaign would buffer that. Yet it is too late, women are powering up and the classic example is comic and television talk show host Chelsea Handler and Democratic leader and Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton.Women are laying their cards on the table and saying forget equality, we can do the job better. So, who the hell is going to start a gender war? If that happens then men will get cut off from female pleasures. Oh it will still be around but what will happen is women will put it to legislation to make prostitution completely legal thus controlling the health and welfare of the profession and the prices will skyrocket. They will unionize and anyone caught rate cutting will be arrested, charged and sentenced. Now they just get arrested and charged, then cut loose, of course deprived of any funds they might be holding, but they usually stash their cash.Hey. what can I say except, “Watch out sheep, ewe might be having more company than your standard ram. Bleh-eeh-ehh. Yes, I know, not very professional. Yet, as I said, I’m retired so that allows me a tiny little bit of artistic leeway.Cheers