m inside the Barclays Center and a thick white fog will overtake the entrance ramp. As Bálors music hits a crescendo, the Demon King will emerge from the smoke, his hands and body l

The Miami Heat are closing in on a contract extension with coach Erik Spoelstra, a source told ESPN, confirming a story first reported by The Vertical on Tuesday.?The Heat expect to work something out soon with Spoelstra, the source said.?Spoelstras current deal with the team ends after the 2016-17 season, but both sides had long planned to finalize a new deal before the start of free agency on Friday.?Spoelstra, 45, served as a Heat assistant from 1997 to 2008 before taking over for Pat Riley as head coach beginning in the 2008-09 season. With the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the?Spoelstra-coached Heat won NBA titles in 2012 and 13.?This past season, Miami finished 48-34, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. It lost to the Toronto Raptors in the East semifinals.?Spoelstra is a career 399-241 in the regular season and 70-43 in the playoffs. He is the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference and is second to only San Antonios Gregg Popovich in the NBA.?News of movement on an extension for Spoelstra comes just days before the start of free agency. The Heat have nine free agents, including Wade, Hassan Whiteside and Luol Deng, set to hit the market Friday at 12:01 a.m. ET.?In addition to likely locking up a long-term commitment with the Heat, Spoelstra is also set to wed fiancee Nikki Sapp later this summer after announcing their engagement nearly a year ago.Information from ESPNs Ramona Shelburne and Michael Wallace?was used in this report.Greg Olsen Panthers Jersey .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Brian Burns Jersey . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-christian-mccaffrey-blue-jersey/ . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Luke Kuechly Womens Jersey . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. Curtis Samuel Youth JerseyFinn Bálor?is billed at just a hair below 6-feet tall and 190 pounds. When he speaks, there is no disguising his thick Irish accent. He doesnt fit the mold of the typical WWE superstar of any era, and yet, on his first night on the main roster, Bálor pinned the United States champion?Rusev?in a four-way match in his debut. Then he defeated the longtime heir apparent to?John Cenas?mantle as the top guy of the company,?Roman Reigns, in a No. 1 contenders match for the newly christened top title of the brand, the WWE?Universal Championship.If you were to bring this potential scenario up to your friends or any knowledgeable wrestling fan 10 -- nay, even five years ago -- youd be mocked for being an indie wrestling fan with a bit too much imagination. What Bálor accomplished on his first night in the company is the type of welcome mat youd expect for a Cena- or Reigns-type of wrestler: big, strong, born and bred in America, with a look you can slap on posters from here to China. Bálor, while having a sharp look and a defined body, is not overly muscular or tall.In the history of the WWE, generally speaking, non-American and Canadian wrestlers have been shoehorned, at one point or another, into the role of the dastardly foreigner who believes his country of origin is astronomically better than the one hes in tonight. After mocking the red, white and blue, someone like a Cena or a Reigns would rush out from the back, barreling down to the ring in an attempt to stop the rapscallion from defaming the United States.With Bálor, the Irishman who made his name as Prince Devitt in Japan, Europe and many other locales outside of the United States, WWE didnt follow their typical path and bring him in as that kind of international heel. While the evil foreigner gimmick can still be seen to this day in the company --?The Shining Stars?arent going to let us forget Puerto Rico is so much better than the United States -- Bálor entered the scene as a full-on?good guy.After that one impressive night of a debut, hes set to take on?Seth Rollins?at SummerSlam for the grand prize of Raw, which still appears to be the flagship?show, post-brand split. Instead of giving Bálor a shillelagh or a leprechaun sidekick, WWE didnt simply shy away from Finns heritage -- but they also didnt make it his entire character.In his first few weeks on Raw, the WWE has highlighted and built upon Bálors well-established NXT character and its long-standing duality. The split personality of Finn Bálor is a take on his name: Finn representing the mythical Irish hunter-warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill and Balor which is Gaelic for Demon King.On one side, you have the leather jacket-wearing confident veteran from Japan, who can out-wrestle anyone he meets. His other personality, the one he only brings out for marquee matches -- the Demon King -- is sadistic, putting Bálor in a state where hell go through anything or anyone by any means necessary to win the match. The two personalities intertwine to bring us the kind of mythical character we dont see much of anymore in the WWE, outside of?Bray Wyatt?and the occasional appearance from?The Undertaker.From the colorful paint that dawns his body, to the spectacle of the performance he puts on during his entrance, the appearance of the Demon King, at least as it has been presented in the past in NXT, has been seen as a special event -- something Bálor only brings out when he needs it most against the greatest of foes.When it comes to comparable wrestlers in the WWE, the aforementioned Wyatt is a possible cautionary tale for Bálor. While the wordsmith Wyatt is a natural storyteller in and outside of the ring, his constant string of losing feuds over the years has weakened his appeal at the maain-event level.dddddddddddd He can spin a tale of fear and despair like no one else today in pro wrestling, but what are those words worth if he continually ends up looking at rafters against the superheroes he promises to break?What made the Demon King great in NXT is that Bálor won when he slipped into his dark character. Unlike Wyatt, where his entrance is usually the highlight for his character in his marquee matches, Bálor continually defeated the best NXT had to offer as the Demon King -- building a persona which fans knew they couldnt miss if a big bout was upcoming. It wasnt until the end of a blood feud against Samoa Joe inside a steel cage where the Demon King finally fell for the first time -- and it had to be to fulfill as significant a goal as establishing the new overlord of the NXT brand.For Bálor to become a big star as a face, the Demon King needs to be handled correctly. Sure, the facepaint and entrance is a sight to behold, and it seems almost certain that kids will flock to the merchandise stands at SummerSlam to buy Bálor merchandise. But if the demonic character loses every main-event match hes in, like Wyatt has done over the years, youll be left with a shiny exterior with no substance inside. Finn Bálor can lose close matches and come up short, but the Demon King -- the integral part of who Bálor is -- needs to be seen as a monster that can only be dethroned after a hellacious war of lost battles.Bálor is a passable talker on the mic, but hes no Wyatt or even a wisecracking?Enzo Amore. For him to succeed as the top face of Raw, he needs to be?placed in situations where he can tell a story the best -- inside the squared circle, in a wrestling match.If the WWE can build up the Demon King character, there is little doubt he can become an integral part of the company. Kids and teenagers are the main demographic theyve been trying to appeal to for the last decade, or more, and the artistic, twisted side of Bálor is visually stunning. He doesnt need to stand in the middle of the ring for 20 minutes, insulting his foes with forced catchphrases. All Bálor needs to do is be suave and confident as Finn, and when the Demon King awakes, hes able to become a force that is seemingly indestructible.Cena is beloved by the younger audience of the WWE. He has become one of the most visible and well-known athletes in the world, with his appearances all over every kind of media imaginable, in both a wrestling and nonwrestling role.Not every fan favorite needs to be John Cena.As weve seen with?Dean Ambroses?well-executed run so far on SmackDown Live, you can be a different kind of character and still be seen as the top guy.?For Cena, his all-American hero works. For Ambrose, his unpredictable, street tough personality fits. In Bálors case, the switch between the heroic in-ring technician and the demonic sovereign can become something amazing (and lucrative), if directed correctly.On Sunday night in Brooklyn, the lights will dim inside the Barclays Center and a thick white fog will overtake the entrance ramp. As Bálors music hits a crescendo, the Demon King will emerge from the smoke, his hands and body lifted to the sky as a bright, heavenly light illuminates him and his mirrored followers match his movements from the audience.The fans wont notice that hes a cruiserweight, nor that he is an Irishman who doesnt fit the mold of the prototypical WWE superhero.What theyll see in front of them is one of the greatest performers of his craft on the planet -- and if its done correctly, it could be the birth of a new superstar unlike any other in the WWE. ' ' '