The Memphis Hustle are the NBA G League affiliate of the Memphis Grizzlies, based in Southaven, Mississippi. The team name and logo were unveiled together on June 1, 2017, ahead of the franchise’s debut in the 2017-18 season, the same year the league was renamed the NBA Gatorade League (G League).[1]
Design and History
The Memphis Hustle identity was developed in-house by the Memphis Grizzlies organization. David Thompson, director of Creative Services for the Memphis Grizzlies and FedExForum, was credited with leading the design work on the secondary logo, with additional contributions from a designer who posted the work on Dribbble.[2] Thompson had served as the Grizzlies’ director of Creative Services for over nine years as of 2014, overseeing print, advertising and brand projects for the organization.[3]
The primary logo places the team name inside a red silhouette of the Memphis Grizzlies grizzly bear head, a direct visual link to the parent franchise.[4] The Grizzlies described the icon as designed to represent strength, intensity and tenacity, with a silver outline that connects the parent organization directly to the new brand.[5]
Alongside the primary mark, the team unveiled three additional logos: a standalone wordmark without the bear silhouette, a “Grit and Grind” logo, and a stylized “M” mark in the same typeface.[4] The alternate logo combines the letters M and H into a stylized lowercase “m” with a basketball at the end of the letter.[6]
Meaning and Symbolism
The name “Hustle” was chosen to encapsulate hard work and persistence, described as a nod to the “Grit and Grind” culture of Memphis and the Grizzlies organization.[1] The Grizzlies’ official brand page states the name is “a full nod to our regional cultural ethos” and is about “the extra effort” and hard work.[5]
The vibrant red color pays homage to historical Memphis sports franchises including the Sounds, Chicks, Showboats and Americans, as well as current regional teams like the Redbirds and Ole Miss Rebels.[7] The team’s official colors are red, silver and white.[5]
The star in the wordmark nods to Wattstax and regional music figures like Isaac Hayes, while looking forward to the Grizzlies’ future stars.[5]
Typography and Design
The wordmark uses a retro-style typeface described by the Grizzlies as “an amalgamation of the rich music history in our region,” drawing from venues from Po’ Monkey’s to Beale Street and the birthplace of soul at Stax Records.[5] The typeface incorporates a newly designed inline combining inspiration from the Grizzlies and Beale Street neon with the flow of the Mississippi River, shown through larger line-forms and sweeping letter turns.[5] A star is added to the “E” in Hustle within the primary logo.[8]
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