Baron Davis and Trevor Ariza Are Going Clubbing

By BRETT POLLAKOFF

Updated 11:49 AM PST, Thu, Dec 4, 2008

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Athletes and night clubs often don't mix, but this is one way that the two might be able to peacefully coexist.

The Lakers' Trevor Ariza and the Clippers' Baron Davis are among a star-studded group of investors behind the opening of a new club called The Conga Room, which is set to open across the street from Staples Center on December 10th. The club will be part of the L.A. Live complex, and it's going to be a big one: 15,000 square feet, with two levels available for up to 1100 people to go to get their groove on.

The celebrity ownership group includes such familiar names as Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Smits, Paul Rodriguez, and Sheila E. And according to the press release for the club's opening, you can expect to see these famous folks spending a lot of time at this new hangout.

"Once open, The Conga Room will host a variety of events with its celebrity co-owners, bringing an exclusive list of guests along with them to enjoy the venue’s authentic cuisine, music and dancing on any given night. Musician Will.i.am can drop in to perform or share his global beat mix with club goers, Jimmy Smits will continue to be the preeminent Conga Room host for the industry and friends, the Clippers’ Baron Davis and Lakers’ Trevor Ariza are hoping to bring the after-party to The Conga Room post-game, while Paul Rodriguez will bring his stand-up for some laughs."

Oh, is that how it's going to play out?

The best case scenario for The Conga Room would be for it to become sort of a next generation Forum Club, which was a hot spot after games for players and celebrities to mingle back in the days of the Showtime Lakers. Considering that the Forum Club was attached to the arena -- and was located in Inglewood, not downtown L.A. -- it was really the only game in town for a post-game party. With the incredible growth and expansion going on downtown, the celebrities will have to turn out in full force if they indeed want to make The Conga Room the new place to see and be seen. Adding two of the city's NBA stars to the ownership group is a pretty good start.