Dwight Howard made his mom cry by pretending to sign with Utah

Dwight Howard had a few suitors during free agency before signing a three-year, $70.5 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks over the summer. But he played a prank on his mother, pretending the Utah Jazz offered the most money.

On the Doug Gottlieb Show on CBS Sports Radio on Monday, Howard said moments after he signed with Atlanta, he told his mom he was heading to Utah just to see how she’d react.

“I told her, I said, ‘Mom, I just got this big contract, $150 million.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my God, from who?’ I said, ‘Utah Jazz,’ and she started crying,” Howard said. “And I said, ‘Mom, sorry, I was just joking, I’m coming home to Atlanta.’ And then she was super happy and my family was super excited.”

Howard isn’t the first person to throw shade at Utah as a free-agent destination, and in all likelihood, he won’t be the last. Back in 1997, Derek Harper turned down a contract from Utah to play in Orlando.

“There was a Utah deal, but you go live in Utah. Nothing against Utah or their team, but I don’t want to live there,” Harper said in an ESPN interview.

On the other end, ex-All-Star forward Josh Howard praised the Jazz fan base.

“A lot of people think Utah is a bad place to play, but hell nah,” Howard told Grantland. “That fan support is so crazy up there. You have a home-court advantage there, a serious one.”

Utah might not be the sexiest tourist destination, but the young, athletic Jazz are off to a solid 7-5 start with Western Conference playoff expectations. Howard’s Hawks, though, are a step ahead, having won seven of nine games so far this year.

The Atlanta native is shooting a league-best 63 percent from the field and averaging 15.2 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks to one-up himself in each statistical category from last season.

Howard also told Gottlieb he’s fallen in love with basketball again by playing at home. He and his Hawks visit Utah on Nov. 25.