Jalen Brunson Reportedly Called Players-Only Meeting After Knicks' Loss to Mavs, Details Surface

The New York Knicks have lost nine of their last 11 games, and Jalen Brunson has had enough.

According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Jalen Brunson called a players-only meeting after Monday's 114-97 loss against the Dallas Mavericks. His message, per that report, "was that the Knicks needed to find answers for their poor play in January among themselves, rather than look to the coaching staff for solutions."

The Knicks are now 25-18 on the season, third in the Eastern Conference and seven games back of the Detroit Pistons for the top overall seed. Since winning the NBA Cup, the Knicks have gone 7-11 and are currently stuck in their second four-game losing streak of the season (with both taking place since Dec. 31).

"We all need to do some soul-searching," Josh Hart told reporters Monday. "Right now we're playing embarrassing basketball. We're not executing on the offensive end. Defensively, we've been abysmal. We've been terrible defensively all year."

The Knicks have championship expectations given a roster that includes Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby. But there are starting to be questions about whether that group is the right mix.

Fans at Madison Square Garden are certainly fed up, booing the Knicks on Monday night. Brunson and Towns didn't blame them.

"I'd be booing us too," Brunson told reporters. "Straight up."

"You come, you spend, what, $140 bucks to represent your favorite player with a jersey?" Towns added. "And you come to MLK Day here at the Garden and tickets are twice, three times the price. And to come here and spend your hard-earned money, money that you've saved up to bring your family to this game and for us to come here and obviously, not only [not] win—which is disappointing—but not really have a chance, I'd be disappointed too. The fans who spend their hard-earned money, they give us so much love and motivation to go out there. They expect the results. And so do we. The fans are doing their part. And we've got to do our part."

Similar sentiments were likely shared in the players-only meeting. Now it's about actually manifesting it on the court.