Final Fantasy VII Remake was once planned to have a basketball minigame, but it was cut during development. The original version of FF7 was full of minigames, ranging from breeding the golden Chocobo to mastering the Battle Arena in the Gold Saucer, and even digging for treasure in the ruins around Bone Village, though they haven't all found their way into Remake.
FF7 Remake is set entirely during the Midgar section of the original game. As such, minigames like Chocobo breeding couldn't be implemented, as they don't appear until later in the story. The developers expanded on some of the minigames that appeared during Midgar, like doing squats in the gym, while adding some new ones, like the darts game in Seventh Heaven. Final Fantasy 7's INTERmission DLC also added the Fort Condor minigame, as well as bringing forward the Turtle Paradise flyer quest, which started at a later point in the story in FF7.
The developers didn't get the chance to implement everything they wanted into FF7 Remake, which is why Red XIII wasn't a playable character. It turns out that there was a minigame planned for FF7 Remake that was cut, as it didn't match the area where it was going to be implemented.
The Cut Basketball Minigame In Final Fantasy VII Remake
FF7 Remake expanded the story of the members of Avalanche who died in the original game. Cloud visits Jessie's parent's home on the Sector 7 Plate, along with Biggs and Wedge. The other members of the team distract Jessie's parents, while Cloud sneaks inside and grabs an ID card. FF7 Remake Co-Director Naoki Yamaguchi told Game Informer that this segment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's story was going to have its own minigame.
Cloud was originally going to be able to play basketball, in homage to a similar minigame from the Gold Saucer in FF7. According to Yamaguchi, it didn't fit the scene, as it was set during nighttime, and the group was trying to be quiet in a residential neighborhood. It would have been out of place for Cloud to start shooting hoops. The player can find a basketball in the area which will move when interacted with, which was left as a tribute to the cut minigame.
Fans who are itching to see Cloud experience his own version of Space Jam should still get the chance in one of the later games in the FF7 Remake series. There's a strong chance the minigame will return when the party reaches the Gold Saucer in a future Final Fantasy VII Remake title, as it wouldn't be out of place to find a basketball arcade machine in a massive theme park.
Source: Game Informer