Thoughts on LeBron not being in the dunk contest

Last night, while watching the All-Star game, I got so frustrated every time I saw LeBron James flying through the air to catch an oop from Wade or contort his body mid-air after jumping from a dead sprint, to reverse slam it, and monkey swing on the rim. As I'm watching this, all I can think of is "now why didn't dude enter the dunk contest?" The only legitimate reason a player can give me for not wanting to enter the dunk contest is fear of injury. I respect that. I understand that. A player's body, esp. their knees, ankles, and feet (crucial elements in jumping and landing from any dunk attempt) are how they eat, so I TOTALLY understand not wanting to injure yourself in non-essential activity like the dunk contest. HOWEVA, if you tell me that, yet turn around and do the EXACT SAME ACROBATICS in another non-essential activity like the All-Star game the VERY NEXT DAY, then I have a serious problem and must ask some tough questions. As a team owner I would have the same outrage if my star player got hurt dunking in a dunk contest that I would have if my star player got hurt dunking in an All-Star game. LeBron didn't approach the All-Star game in the same fashion as KG did. KG has a bad knee. KG shot jump shots yesterday. KG was not running around full speed trying to catch oops thrown up higher than the square on the backboard. KG played like someone who was concerned with not getting hurt. LeBron didn't. LeBron was "showin out"! I was impressed and I was disgusted. I'm like - "if you gonna show out, why not show out in the contest where you are judged and rewarded for showin out!". Since risk of injury OBVIOUSLY was not the issue, then I must ask, LeBron, are you afraid of losing the dunk contest? I tend to think that is the reason why dude didn't compete. Why else, after being totally unprovoked at last years All-Star game, would he say he would compete in the dunk contest in Dallas, and then back out? I've already established that risk of injury couldn't really be the reason. What I'm left to conclude is LeBron was afraid of losing the dunk contest, so he didn't compete. I can't really trip on him for having that feeling, because I had the same feeling in 8th grade. I won my school's spelling bee in 7th grade, but I was scared to lose my title in the 8th grade (esp. when I heard they had allowed 4th graders to enter the competition. I couldn't bear the potential shame of being eliminated before a 4th grader did, so I didn't compete). In hindsight, it was a punk move. I admit it. All I need for LeBron to do is admit it too. He's still my favorite NBA player, regardless. I am just a little disappointed. The All-Star weekend here in Dallas was ridiculous even without his participation in the dunk contest. If LeBron had of been in it, it would have just made the weekend legendary.