basketball toronto scotia plaza

A basketball court appeared on top of one of Toronto's tallest buildings

The highest basketball shot in Toronto history may have just gone down atop one of the city and country's tallest buildings, part of a high-profile promotion for a new partnership between a beer brand and the NBA.

Labatt Breweries of Canada and the NBA announced a multi-year partnership leading into the league's 75th Anniversary Season, making Michelob ULTRA the league's "official and exclusive beer partner in Canada," part of a broader partnership between brewer Anheuser-Busch and the NBA.

"We're excited to extend the NBA's partnership with Michelob ULTRA to Canada and provide new and creative opportunities for fans across the country to celebrate our landmark 75th Anniversary Season," said NBA Canada Managing Director Leah MacNab.

The partnership kicked off with an elaborate stunt, bringing renowned shooting coach (not famed yelling MSNBC anchor) Chris Matthews to take a shot on a partial court set up on the roof of Scotia Plaza in the Financial District.

At 275 metres, that has got to be the highest bucket ever sunk in the city. But even if this shot managed to break a record, it would be a relatively easy one to top.

Labatt Breweries of Canada is claiming that Scotia Plaza is the tallest, completed flat-top building in the country, a debatable claim.

While it may offer a much flatter roof, Scotia Plaza's height falls well short of First Canadian Place — which offers less surface area but more than enough for a single hoop.

And this isn't the first time brewing giants have brought sports-related promotions to the top of Toronto skyscrapers.

Molson Canadian famously built a skating rink atop the Richmond-Adelaide Centre at 120 Adelaide St. West in 2016, offering the chance to skate 32 storeys above the Financial District. The NBA/Michelob promotion at Scotia Plaza ups the ante to 68 storeys.

The partnership has also seen Michelob transform its billboards into "larger-than-life backboards."

It comes with the open call for all Canadians (of legal drinking age, of course) to share their best shots on any basket on social media using the #GetBuckets hashtag, following and tagging @MichelobULTRACA for an opportunity to win NBA gear.

Lead photo by

Michelob Ultra Canada


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