Wade talks swollen knees and Rondo’s hurt ego with his benching

CLEVELAND – Dwyane Wade wasn’t going to play doctor on Wednesday morning, and he certainly wasn’t going to play general manager.

The veteran’s status for tonight’s game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers was still a game-time decision, as Wade was dealing with swelling in his left knee that forced him to sit out the Monday game against Charlotte.

“Yeah, that’s where we are with Dwyane right now,’’ Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said, when asked if it was a wait-and-see with Wade. “He didn’t do anything in shootaround this morning. He does feel significantly better than he did yesterday. So it will be a game-time decision for Dwyane.’’

Wade seemed even less concerned with the knee, insisting he’s been dealing with it since his Marquette days, so wasn’t real worried.

The bigger concern for Wade?

Making sure that Rajon Rondo doesn’t stop pulling the rope during his benching, especially with Rondo already expressing that if his role didn’t change he wanted to be elsewhere.

“He’s been in a great place with his teammates,’’ Wade said of Rondo. “That’s all you can ask for. Obviously, you don’t expect him to be jolly that he’s not playing the game that he loves. But when it comes to his teammates, he’s been great. He’s been staying in it, keeps talking to guys. He’s been here every day.

“It’s a tough situation. There are a lot of players on this team that don’t really understand. But it’s not for us to understand. It’s our job to play. He’s a teammate of ours. You never know what happens. We stick together. He’s been doing a great job of it.’’

At the same time, Wade said that he couldn’t begin to understand what Rondo was going through, simply because he’s never had to deal with it himself.

“You can’t sympathize with something until you go through it,’’ Wade said. “So I don’t understand it man. The only thing I know is he’s been great the last few days. That’s all I can go by.’’

Rondo did acknowledge that he and general manager Gar Forman spoke, but said it’s a situation that his agent would deal with moving forward.