Portland’s Boornazian is living out his dream in HBO’s ‘Winning Time’
Mike Boornazian wasn’t alive when the Los Angeles Lakers became Showtime and won five NBA championships in the 1980s behind Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There is a television series currently airing on HBO detailing the beginning of how that particular Lakers dynasty came to be. And Boornazian — who grew up in Portland and was a star basketball player in his own right at Xavier High in Middletown — has an acting part as one of the Lakers on that NBA championship team in 1980.
“My dream has always been to be an actor. My question was always, ‘How do I make this a reality?’ ” said Boornazian, now 28. “Fortunately, I’ve been able to make enough so I can really focus and chase my dreams.”
Boornazian plays Brad Holland, a rookie shooting guard drafted by the Lakers out of UCLA, in the 10-episode series.
Boornazian had been a segment producer on “Maury” since 2019 — the show starring veteran talk-show host Maury Povich that ended March 25 after a 31year run. He also manages social media accounts for Andre Drummond, the former UConn standout and current member of the Brooklyn Nets. Drummond, who grew up in Middletown, and Boornazian have been friends for years.
Boornazian had already realized his dream of becoming an actor. He was cast in a starring role in the first season of “I Love a Mama’s Boy,” which aired on TLC. He starred with his real-life mother and now-ex-girlfriend. It was shot in Connecticut in 2020, the same year it premiered.
“It’s about boys who had close relationships with their moms. My mom, she was my everything growing up,” Boornazian said.
So how does someone entrenched in Connecticut — and who had recently purchased a
condominium in Danbury — end up in Los Angeles? He can thank Drummond for that, when he was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Lakers in March 2021.
In addition to managing Drummond’s social media accounts, Boornazian hoped he would pick up some modeling jobs, as he had in New York for the time he was out there. “Maury” was done shooting for the season, so Boornazian had some flexibility in his schedule.
But not long after arriving in Los Angeles, Boornazian got a call through his agent gauging interest in the new Lakers series.
“I started to develop a following after my (TLC) shows. One of the casting directors hired by the (new Lakers series) reached out knowing I was a former basketball player turned actor and wanted me to come in for an audition,” Boornazian said.
The new series stars John C. Reilly as Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson and Michael Chiklis as Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
So returning to Connecticut was scrapped for the time being. Boornazian was offered a remote producer role on “Maury” while he stayed out in California.
Boornazian said he got to play the parts of former NBA players (and Lakers opponents) Rick Barry and Chris Ford, in addition to a young Jerry West when he played in throwback scenes. Boornazian’s days being a standout player at Xavier, then at Wilbraham & Monson and Bates College, certainly helped.
“There was no speaking involved, but it gave me a chance to get on the set, learn the ropes from some of the greats in the industry while playing basketball,” Boornazian said.
His work was liked enough to land the part of Holland, which Boornazian plays for the second half of the season. The entire series is based on the book written by Jeff Pearlman.
Shooting for the first season ran from April 2021 through October, Boornazian said.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Boornazian now has 71,200 followers on his Instagram account. He flew to Miami this week to promote his NFT line — they are non-fungible tokens, defined by Google as digital assets that link ownership to either digital or physical items that, as Boornazian put it, are “a new way to interact with fans and monetize those experiences.”
Boornazian hired a manager six months ago: Mike Mendes, his former teammate when the two spent a season at Wilbraham & Monson. Mendes helped set up the Miami trip.
“I try to handle most of his communication, make sure that he does everything he needs to do to fulfill his obligations,” said Mendes, who also has a full-time job in sales in Massachusetts. “I don’t want anyone taking advantage of him and his time. As he is growing in his career, everyone wants access to him. I’m the threshold.”
Said Boornazian: “The way my life has unfolded over the past year is something out of a movie. I bought a place in Danbury, I am a producer set to work in Connecticut and New York and my best friend goes to the Lakers and it literally changes my entire life. … The longer I stayed in LA, the more good things kept happening. I called my mom and told her, ‘I can’t go home.’ ”
Despite “Maury” ending, Boornazian has been able to remain as Drummond’s social media manager and has shot three commercials while he awaited word on whether the Lakers series would be renewed for a second season by HBO. It officially was this week.
Holland ended up playing two seasons for the Lakers before being traded. So Boornazian has at least another season on the show.
And the Portland native, well, he realized he had to quickly grow up in the fast-paced life that Los Angeles delivers.
“I grew up more in those first three months in L.A. than the (previous) 27 years,” Boornazian said. “Talk about transitioning out of a job, I had just closed (on the condo), I come to L.A., I had to ship my car, get renters and homeowners insurance and pay rent in Beverly Hills. I felt like I had to pinch myself.”