Caitlin Clark has to be held back in heated moment with ref: ‘Grow up’

Caitlin Clark shook her head with her hands on her hips, disgusted by what had just transpired.

A quick exchange with referee Michael Price during the Fever’s 85-77 win over the Sun on Tuesday night left the Fever’s star outraged and wanting to give him even more of her mind.

“That’s just rude. Grow up,” Clark said before summoning Price with a finger point during the third quarter. “Come here. Unbelievable.”

While the main storyline out of Tuesday’s game would eventually be the re-injured groin that raises questions about Clark’s availability for Wednesday’s anticipated matchup against the Liberty and following the upcoming WNBA All-Star break, her hot-mic spat with the referee went viral.

Clark is not one to shy away from telling referees her two cents, which has led to technical fouls during her career, and it certainly seemed she gave Price plenty more change.

With the Fever leading, 54-49, with 4:33 left in the third quarter at TD Garden in Boston, the Sun invoked a coach’s challenge on a ball that went out of bounds.

While the players left the court, Clark gave an earful to Price.

Clark and Price exchanged words, with the guard appearing confused for a second, before she exploded when he walked away from her.

A Fever staffer held back Clark while she screamed at the referee.

One of the ESPN broadcasters said Clark had been saying, “Are you kidding me?”

Hot mics then captured Clark’s anger, before she walked toward the referee.

Clark motioned as if she had a telephone in her right hand, putting it to ear while saying something that included the words “call.”

The pair then huddled, with Clark getting in her point across before Price responded. He eventually walked away, with Clark pointing toward him before heading toward the Indiana bench.

Clark somehow did not earn a technical foul, and she helped the Fever win despite an off night. She tallied 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting, including 1-for-7 from deep.

Her night took a turn for the worse when she exited in the final minute due to the groin injury.

Fever coach Stephanie White said Clark will be evaluated, but it could per her status in doubt for this weekend’s 3-point shooting challenge.

Clark has already missed 10 games this year — a pair of five-game stretches — due to a quad and groin injury after never missing a game during her college and high school career.

White noted during her postgame presser that Clark faces physicality that others rarely encounter.

“I knew it as an opponent, and I see it as her coach,” White said after her team improved to 12-10. “I’m not exactly sure why, but it just is what it is. We’ve got to help her learn to adjust and use it against them in certain ways. We’ve got to find some ways to make it a little bit easier for her, but the level of physicality overall in our league has been at a different level than it’s been for a long time.”