Little did the NBA know that when it announced its extensive business partnership with Yahoo! Inc. on Sept. 11, 2000, as a means to enhance its NBA and WNBA Web sites, that it would provide such a tremendous service in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001.

While the agreement emphasizes a variety of functions to aid both entities, such as increased exposure in the different mediums, the one segment that has come to the forefront is Yahoo! Auctions. It has turned into a remarkable fundraising tool to generate money for the UFA Widows and Childrens Fund, set up by the New York Fire Department, and the Twin Towers Fund, set up by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to aid the families of members of the uniformed services who lost their lives or were injured.

When Spike Lee decided to auction a courtside seat next to him for the New York Knicks' season opener against Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards, NBA.com and Yahoo! Auctions got the job done. The auction attracted more than 130 bids - plus registering the most page views of any Yahoo! Auction in its three-year history - including a $50,000 bid from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. It culminated with a winning bid of $101,300, all of which was donated to the UFA fund.

The goodwill went one step further when the anonymous winning bidder donated the ticket to a child of a firefighter lost in the tragedy.

The NBA and Yahoo! Auctions just concluded auctioning 29 autographed commemorative red, white and blue basketballs to benefit the Twin Towers Fund. Each home opener began with a ceremonial tip-off featuring the commemorative ball that was later signed by all players and coaches of the two teams.