Yes, under some circumstances you might burn the pot, or melt the wiper contact in the pot, you can also drive the temperature of the resistive medium to a point at which it's no longer where you intended to set it.

For large currents, I've never used anything bu wire-wound pots, and even those can be abused considerably.

When you need current, it's not particularly costly to use a cheap voltage regulator or a simple voltage follower (often cheaper) and set the output voltage with a small, cheap pot rather than trying to use a pot that can handle all the current.

I've seen several pots, seriously underdesigned, that had a burned spot inside, simply because they weren't used properly. Transistors and regulators are so inexpensive now, that there's no reason ever to use a pot alone when there's risk that the pot will be set to a position that will harm it.

RE