The impossible bounce pass through a forest of legs that ends up in a teammate's hands under the basket -- that was easy. The pressure-filled pull-up three-pointer to tie a game as time expired -- that was simple. The will and durability to fight through picks, get slammed to the floor, crisscross the country dozens of times and yet show up ready to play, nearly every night of every season -- not a problem.
   
But saying goodbye to the Utah Jazz and an unlikely 19-year basketball career that made John Stockton perhaps the most beloved sports figure in the state's history? That was tougher than all of his 15,806 assists combined.
   
Stockton, the NBA's icon of professionalism and one-half of the most prolific duo in basketball history, walked away from the Jazz and into retirement on Friday, confirming a long-expected but still traumatic and startling truth: He cannot play forever.