Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White has suggested Caitlin Clark does not receive as much protection as other players in the WNBA, after she suffered yet another injury blow.
Clark missed five games between May and June due to a left quadriceps issue, then was subsequently sidelined for another two weeks by a left groin injury.
On Tuesday, Clark held back tears as she exited an 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun, clutching her right groin.
Clark had scored 14 points while shooting 4-of-14 on a rare off night, with Kelsey Mitchell scoring a team-high 20 points for Indiana while Natasha Howard added 18.
The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year has already missed nine games this season, with the 12-10 Fever struggling for consistency amid her injury woes.
And White feels opposing defenders are allowed to get away with using a greater level of physicality when facing Clark.
She told reporters: "There's a level of physicality that they're able to play with against her. I knew it as an opponent, and I see it as her coach.
"I'm not exactly sure why, but it just is what it is, and 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."
Indiana boast an 8-5 record when Clark has featured this year, while going 4-5 without her.
They face the New York Liberty for the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday, and White was in no position to offer a prognosis on her star player ahead of that trip.
"I think we just take it one step at a time," White said of Clark. "We'll get some food and get on the plane and start talking about New York.
"She's being evaluated; we'll see where we are with that. And certainly, we'll have another evaluation, probably, and conversation in the morning, to see where we are.
"But this group has played without her, at least we've got experience in that."
Tuesday's game was held in front of a sellout crowd of 19,156 fans at Boston's TD Garden, where the Suns – who are based around 100 miles away – also staged a game last August.
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown was among the big names in attendance, and Clark's Indiana teammate Sophie Cunningham feels the city should have an WNBA team of its own.
"I thought it was a lot of fun, to be honest," Cunningham said. "There's so much history in this building.
"I've got some heat from saying stuff about cities, but I like Boston, man. I really like Boston. Y'all need to get a team here."
