A lot of the time, the team that wins the NBA championship is not exactly well-liked. I don't think anyone outside of Los Angeles was rooting for the Lakers during all of their titles runs, and Michael Jordan's Bulls certainly had their fair share of haters around the nation.

But every once in a while, “the good guys” win a title. From 2010 through 2019, there were some examples of that, even if they were relatively few and far between.

Here are the three most “satisfying” NBA champions from the last decade.

3. 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers

It sounds weird to ever list a team led by LeBron James among clubs that people were actually rooting for, but you have to remember the NBA climate back in 2016.

This was when the Golden State Warriors won an NBA record 73 games and were being prematurely crowned as the best team of all time by some before they even won the championship. It didn't help matters much that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were some of the biggest showboaters in the league, and Green was starting to get the “dirty player” label.

So when the Warriors reached the NBA Finals and matched up with James' Cavs, neutral fans didn't really have much of a choice.

lebron james, kyrie irving, cavs
Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

The general consensus among fans was that Cleveland was the team everyone “should” have been rooting for, especially considering the Cavs were a relatively significant underdog.

When Golden State took a 3-1 lead in the series, everyone assumed it was over. But Green was suspended for Game 5 after racking up another flagrant foul point for his, uh, groin shot on LeBron in Game 4.

That seemed to turn the entire tide of the Finals, as the Cavs won Game 5 at Oracle Arena, took Game 6 convincingly at home and then rode magnificent performances from James and Kyrie Irving to a Game 7 victory in the Bay.

Yes, it was LeBron, and fans typically root against him, but it was different this time. The 73-win Dubs were ousted, and their “best team of all time” label went out the window.

2. 2011 Dallas Mavericks

When LeBron bolted the Cavs for the Miami Heat during the summer of 2010, he became public enemy No. 1. Not just in Cleveland, but pretty much everywhere other than South Beach.

The Heat struggled at times during the regular season, but once the playoffs rolled around, the triumvirate of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh kicked it into gear and marched to the NBA Finals.

There, Miami met the Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks that most people didn't give much of a chance against the loaded “Heatles.” When the Heat took Game 1 and then built a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 2, some were even thinking a sweep was possible.

Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade

But then, Nowitzki led a frantic fourth-quarter comeback in Game 2 to tie the series at one game apiece. Yes, Miami rebounded with a big Game 3 win in Dallas, but the Mavs then proceeded to win three straight games, closing out the Heat for a title in South Florida in Game 6.

The performance by Nowitzki is regarded as one of the most legendary efforts in recent memory, especially considering he led the Mavs to a Game 4 win in spite of a 102-degree fever, one that was mocked by James and Wade before the contest.

The fact that LeBron laid an egg for much of the series — particularly in fourth quarters — while an all-around likable guy in Nowitzki won Finals MVP only further delighted fans.

1. 2014 San Antonio Spurs

If you want to see a feel-good story, go watch some videos on the 2014 Spurs.

We all remember what happened to Tim Duncan and Co. the year prior. San Antonio was battling the Heat in the Finals and held a 3-2 series lead. The Spurs then held a five-point lead in the waning seconds of Game 6 and seemed destined to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, but Miami shockingly forced overtime with Ray Allen's 3-pointer and went on to even the series and eventually win it all in Game 7.

It was easily one of the most devastating Finals losses in the sport's history, and many wondered if even a veteran, battle-tested squad like the Spurs would be able to recover.

Well, San Antonio did that and then some.

Spurs
ClutchPoints

The Spurs won an NBA-best 62 games during the regular season, even ripping off 19 straight victories at one point. It seemed pretty clear that San Antonio was the best team in the league, but the playoffs still awaited the aging stars.

Things got dicey for the Spurs early on, as they struggled to defeat the eighth-seeded Mavericks in a seven-game first-round series (keep in mind that this Mavs team did win 50 games), but after that, San Antonio began to cruise.

The Spurs easily dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers in five games in the second round, and they topped the rival Oklahoma City Thunder in six games in the Western Conference Finals.

Duncan then got exactly what he wanted: another shot at the Heat.

With the entire basketball world behind it, San Antonio obliterated Miami in a lopsided five-game series in which Kawhi Leonard began to emerge as a budding star. Leonard won Finals MVP, and Duncan won his fifth championship.

Given how much fans tend to like Duncan and the Spurs as it is while also taking into consideration the whole redemption arc, the 2014 Spurs are the most satisfying champion of the last decade.