Timberwolves fans rally to support Naz Reid tattoo artist battling brain tumor

A Roseville tattoo artist has inked the name of beloved Minnesota Timberwolves player Naz Reid on hundreds of fans.

Now fans are rallying to support the artist, JC Stroebel, who recently received a brain tumor diagnosis. Within two days of posting, an online fundraiser it has raised more than $35,000.

“Your Naz Reid tattoo community is with you through this difficult journey! Call on your Wolf Pack anytime,” wrote fan and donor Lacey Piotter-Jenkins on the GoFundMe page.

Reid, who won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2024, cultivated a cult following with a simple phrase: “Two words: Naz Reid.” Now supporters of Stroebel like Jonathon Comuzzi are telling him “Two words: full recovery.”

Stroebel’s offer to ink the player’s name on fans for just $20 took off online during the 2024 season’s playoffs. Stroebel, a lifelong Wolves fan, had expected no more than a handful of people to take him up on the deal, he told the Minnesota Star Tribune in May 2024.

Instead, dozens of fans packed Beloved Studios in Roseville for their “Naz Reid” tattoos. He’s reprised the deal for more fans in 2025, with a couple of new designs for the Minnesota Lynx.

“The coolest people ever are in our booth the whole entire day,” Stroebel said last year. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“On December 6th, JC woke up with what he thought was a bad migraine, which developed into concerning neurological symptoms, and was quickly brought into the hospital shortly afterward. MRI and CT imaging revealed a golf ball-sized brain tumor,” wrote Kellyanne Anderson, of Fridley.

Stroebel is scheduled to undergo brain surgery Dec. 30 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Stroebel has two young boys, ages 3 and 6 months, with Annie, who is a special education teacher.

As a self-employed tattoo artist with no paid sick leave or time off, Anderson said that Stroebel will be unable to work during recovery and treatment. She added that they will experience a gap in health insurance coverage later in the year due to Annie Stroebel’s teaching contract as she will “step away from work to be JC’s primary caregiver.”

Doctors believe the tumor to be a grade 3 or 4 glioma — making both chemotherapy and radiation a likely part of the treatment plan, Anderson wrote.

Following the biopsy later this month, Anderson said the young family will have ongoing extended stays in Rochester for treatment and recovery.

“JC and Annie are taking things one day at a time.”